Gun Scare at Maryland High School

ROCKVILLE, Md. - There was chaos Friday at a Rockville, Maryland high school after there was a report of a man inside the school with a gun. Officials at Richard Montgomery High School immediately shut down the school as police searched the grounds and lockers.

It was a fairly scary drama that unfolded. The school was on lockdown. Police reacted to the worse possible scenario, but at the end of the day, there was no gun.

It was an emotional end of the day as students raced out of the building. Parents were relieved that reports of a gunman had no basis in fact.

"I only heard from my daughter, they were under their desks in a code red, and they'd heard someone with a gun had been in the building," said Susan Frangione, a parent.

"It was like 25 minutes and we said this is not a drill," said student Megan McNiff. "Everybody started texting, telling us what was going on."

But the word that was going out was a lot of rumor being spread by texting students, who didn't really know what was happening.

"It's scary when people are texting you there's a gun, there's a gun-- we weren't going to not believe it because it's such a serious threat," said Catie Bliss, another student.

Rockville City Police backed up by Montgomery County Police searched the building after school officials heard from a parent. Apparently there had been a fight during the lunch hour off campus, and somebody overheard talk of a gun.

"I believe it was students returning to the school, fleeing from the scene saying, 'Let's get out of here before there are shots fired,'" said Major Bob Rappoport of the Rockville City Police.

Police say a friend of the student who was beaten up called that student's mother, who called the school.

"When the parent called the police and said there might be a weapon inside the school, we immediately went into a code red," said Dana Tofig, a Montgomery County Schools spokesperson.

At last check, police were interviewing several students involved in the fight. No charges had been filed, but for now, what amounted to an off-campus fight is still under investigation.

Rockville Police are not apologizing for the show of force inside the school. Major Rappoport said police were there to protect and serve, and that's what they do.