Silver Spring middle school delayed contacting police when student was seriously injured

Incident is one of two highlighting lags in reporting

Administrators at Odessa Shannon Middle School delayed contacting Montgomery County police for several hours following an Oct. 22 incident that seriously injured a student when he was struck in the head with a metal object thrown by another student, according to a police report recently posted on social media by the injured boy’s mother.  

The incident at the Silver Spring school occurred at roughly 11 a.m. and resulted in the hospitalization of the student in an intensive care unit. Principal Natasha Booms called 911 for medical aid, but did not contact police until about 5 p.m. that day, the police report said. Responding Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews transported the boy to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.  

“It should be noted that school staff did not contact [the police department] about this incident when it occurred,” said the report posted on Jan. 14 by Emily Diaz, mother of the injured boy. Bethesda Today confirmed the report’s authenticity with police. 

The October incident is one of two incidents occurring in Montgomery County public schools in recent months in which there was a delay in contacting police —despite a 2022 memorandum of understanding between the police department and the district that details the type of incidents that require police to be contacted immediately...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/01/21/silver-spring-middle-school-delays-police/