Reservoir HS School Safety Incident and Update, Dec. 14, 2021

December 14th, 2021

The following message was issued to the Howard County Public School System community by HCPSS Superintendent Michael Martirano on Dec. 14, 2021:

I know many of you have heard about or read the Howard County Police Department’s (HCPD) press release regarding an incident that occurred at Reservoir High School today, Dec. 14, that led to a student being arrested for bringing a loaded handgun onto school grounds. While the police are continuing their investigation, I am writing to share information with the entire Howard County community and to assure you that our students and staff are safe and not at risk from this threat.

I commend the security assistant, school administration, front office staff, and School Resource Officer at Reservoir High School for their actions today that helped keep students and staff safe. For this we can all be grateful. Details of the incident have been provided by HCPD.

Considering recent school shootings and other events that have impacted schools nationally, including today marking the anniversary of the tragic Sandy Hook incident, I know that many of you are feeling anxious. I want to assure you that HCPSS takes all reports and threats seriously and will continue to work cooperatively with public safety and other agencies to ensure the safety of all of our students and staff. HCPSS will provide additional student support and security assistance at RHS tomorrow to help students and staff who may have questions or require social-emotional support. Staff also are available at every HCPSS school for students who may need additional assistance.

Parents, I’m asking for your help. Over the last several weeks, we have seen an increase in threats of violence on social media as well as incidents of physical violence in our schools. Please talk to your children about the seriousness of threats of violence and have conversations at home about how they may be feeling. If you have weapons in your home, please secure them so that our children do not have access. We have mental health and student well-being supports in our schools and community, and want to provide students every opportunity to receive these supports.

Ensuring our community remains safe is incumbent upon all of us and I’m asking for your partnership and support.