Police Arrest High School Student in Possession of a Handgun

[Howard Hartman]

	DEPARTMENT OF POLICE MEDIA SERVICES DIVISION 2350 RESEARCH BOULEVARD ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 20850-3294   240-773-5030
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 19, 2008	FOR MORE INFORMATION:                         Media Services Division, 240-773-5030

Police Arrest High School Student in Possession of a Handgun

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Firearms Investigations Unit and Gang Task Force have charged an adult female with the unlawful possession of a handgun.

On September 18, 2008 at approximately 2:15 p.m., Gang Unit detectives were in the area of Montgomery Blair High School, located at 51 University Boulevard East in Silver Spring, when they stopped and approached a group of subjects in the area. The subjects were not on public school property, but they were across the street on the property of St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church and School, located at 80 University Boulevard East in Silver Spring. During the course of the officers’ investigation, it was revealed that a person in the group, Edith Hernandez-Mendez, age 18, from the 8800 block of Piney Branch Road in Silver Spring, was in possession of a handgun.

Hernandez-Mendez is currently a student at Montgomery Blair High School. Preliminary investigation reveals that this event may be gang-related.

Hernandez-Mendez has been charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a minor and one count of wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun. (An individual must be 21 years of age to legally possess certain types of firearms in the state of Maryland.) Hernandez-Mendez is currently being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville on $5,000 bond. There will be a bond review hearing later this afternoon.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Montgomery County Gang Tip
Line at 240-773-GANG (4264).

Edith Hernandez-Mendez

80 University Boulevard, East in Silver Spring