Anonymous wrote:Bethesda magazine:
"Hold status lifted at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High following swatting incident
Officers clearing school Tuesday afternoon, police say"
By Ashlyn Campbell
December 2, 2025
2:42pm
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) have lifted a “hold” status put in place Tuesday afternoon at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School following a swatting incident, Montgomery County police said on social media.
At roughly 2 p.m., police said in a social media post that the district had lifted the hold status on the Bethesda school, and officers confirmed that a call to police was a swatting incident. Swatting calls are false reports intended to provoke a large police response. No information was provided regarding the nature of the call or when the hold status started.
Police said on social media that officers were clearing the scene Tuesday afternoon. Spokespeople for MCPS and Montgomery County police didn’t immediately respond Tuesday afternoon to requests for comment.
MCPS introduced new emergency protocols for the 2025-2026 school year that change the language surrounding actions that schools implement, such as shelter-in-place, which was previously used as a catch-all for a variety of conditions, including medical emergencies, police activity and weather events.
When a school implements a hold status, students must clear the hallways and remain in a room or area until an “all clear” is announced, according to the MCPS website. Staff are required to close and lock classroom doors and account for all students and other adults, but classes should continue. The hold response is meant to be used to keep hallways clear during situations such as medical emergencies.
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High other schools have experienced swatting calls and false alarms this school year. Those incidents include when Rockville High School and nearby Meadow Hall Elementary School in Rockville were placed under secure status due to a swatting call to the high school on Sept. 3 and when a false bomb threat sent Bethesda-Chevy Chase High into secure status Sept. 4.
Additionally, in February, B-CC experienced back-to-back lockdowns after a large group fight involving shots fired at an off-campus park shut down the school, then, six days later, a student brought an airsoft gun, a pellet gun that resembles a firearm, to the school.