MCPS holds community meeting at Blake HS after parking lot fight, shooting

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Parents of Blake High School students will have the opportunity to address concerns with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) leaders during a community meeting Thursday night, just a day after a 17-year-old boy was shot during a fight in the school’s parking lot.

The meeting took place in the school’s auditorium starting at 7 p.m.

That teenage victim arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound, and investigators believe he was involved in the fight.

Officers arrested Djibia Gombo, 19, and charged him with first-degree assault. He was not a student at the school, and officials have not said if the 17-year-old boy was a student.

This is not the first time Montgomery County Public Schools have dealt with a shooting on campus.

In February, a 16-year-old boy was shot by a classmate inside Wootton High School.

Police arrested a 16-year-old boy in that incident.

In March, MCPS began a pilot program for an AI weapons detection system at three high schools: Seneca Valley High School, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, and Magruder High School.

However, there are no metal or weapons detectors at other schools, including Blake and Wootton.

Currently, MCPS utilizes a community engagement officer program.

Under this program, police officers are assigned to a school cluster within the school district.

They are not permanently stationed inside any school, nor do they patrol hallways, but they do check in daily at every high school and respond to emergencies at middle and elementary schools.

At the Blake shooting, there was a community engagement officer at the school already, who immediately responded to the fight.

The community engagement officer at Wootton High School at the time of the February shooting was off-campus while responding to an incident at an elementary school.