Police say a 12-year-old boy brought a replica gun to a Maryland middle school and pointed it inside an auditorium.

News outlets report that about 120 students were participating in extracurricular activities when the Earle B. Wood Middle School student approached a group of girls Wednesday. A Montgomery County police statement says the boy pointed the gun around the auditorium and told the group the safety was on.

Several students alerted a teacher, who found the student seated on a mat holding the gun with his finger on the trigger.

The teacher told the student to hand over the gun. He put the gun in his bookbag and gave it to the teacher.

The boy has been charged with offenses including threat of mass violence and released to his guardian.