Juvenile seen with airsoft pistol near Bowie High causes school lockdown

Bowie High School was placed under an almost three-hour lockdown Wednesday after a report of a person near the campus with a “long gun” near the campus that turned out to be an airsoft pistol, police said.

No one was injured and there were no reports of shots fired, but the report led to an extensive police response and some roads around the school being closed to traffic.

The Bowie Police Department received a call to the Bowie Branch Library — which shares a parking lot with the high school — about a person who was armed with a “long gun” at about 12:45 p.m. But when they arrived at the library, it was reported the person had possibly left the scene in a dark-colored vehicle. They reviewed surveillance footage, which showed a male wearing a white shirt and black pants armed with “some type of long gun,” police said.

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Another report was received from the high school that the person may have hidden inside the school. The school’s students were sheltering in place at the time. Police searched Bowie High but did not find the person on school grounds.

Police said they used the surveillance footage to identify the suspect and apprehended him shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday “a short distance away from the school.” The suspect, who is a juvenile, was not armed at the time of the arrest, police said.

Police later recovered the reported weapon, which was determined to be an airsoft pistol that “closely resembles a long gun,” police said.

The lockdown was lifted at 3:40 p.m., and students were dismissed shortly after.

Few details were released during the lockdown, leading parents and residents to question school and police officials online as they reported a helicopter circling over the area.

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In a letter to parents Wednesday evening, Bowie High Principal Joseph Kautzer said multiple police agencies responded to the school during the extended lockdown for a full search of the building and grounds.

A crisis team, along with additional security and law enforcement, will be at the school Thursday, he said.

Investigators are working with the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office and said charges are forthcoming.

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