Keith L. Martin

(11/17) Principal Barbara G. Keiling sent a letter to parents of Thurmont Middle School students on Tuesday to address what she deemed ‘‘disquieting activities" occurring this week.

On Tuesday morning, school officials called the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office after a report of a student in possession of a gun.

Through an investigation, Deputy First Class Jay Godlove determined that a 13-year-old student had brought a ‘‘lookalike" gun to the school a day earlier and pointed it at another student.

The student was arrested and transported to the Frederick County Law Enforcement Center where he was charged with first-degree assault, carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a deadly weapon on school grounds, disrupting school activities and threats on school property. He was released to the Western Maryland Children’s Center.

Cpl. Jennifer Bailey, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said the weapon was a black plastic gun.

‘‘It does not matter if it was plastic or a lookalike, if it is a gun, there will be charges," Cpl. Bailey said. ‘‘We want parents to talk to their kids about this, particularly that if it looks like a handgun... it will be perceived as a real threat."

This is the second time in two weeks that a Frederick County student has been arrested for bringing a replica of a gun to school. On Nov. 9, a 13-year-old student at Crestwood Middle School was taken into custody by the sheriff’s office after bringing a Walther air pistol, which closely resembles a Walther .380 handgun, to the school.

A subsequent investigation also identified another 13-year-old Crestwood Middle student with a butterfly knife on school property.

Under Frederick County Public Schools policy, punishment for weapon possession ranges from probation to expulsion.