Montgomery County police are investigating two threatening notes that have appeared at Montgomery Village Middle School in Gaithersburg in recent weeks.
"We're very upset that someone would do this,'' said Eric Jones, the middle school's principal. "We're doing what we can to make students feel safer and to encourage them to come forward if they have information."
According to a letter sent home by Jones, two students found a crumpled sheet of paper in March that identified students and administrators as targets of a "Death List," but it wasn't until April 7 that they turned the note over to school officials, who immediately contacted authorities.
On April 12, another student found a crumpled sheet of paper threatening two other students, Jones said in his letter. Jones wrote that the first list apparently was created by an unidentified student. He did not say anything about who might have written the second.
"The investigation has been going on for a few days now,'' said Officer Derek Baliles, a Montgomery police spokesman. "We're trying to run through as many leads as we can.''
Baliles said officers have taken all appropriate steps to ensure safety at the school and added that notes have been sent home to parents. He said this is the first time such an incident has occurred at the 820-student campus.
