MILTON — School officials locked down Milton High School just after the dismissal bell rang on Wednesday, when a Watertown man carrying a gun tried to enter the school’s front door and a second male was found to have slipped through another entrance, police said.
Officers arrested Jonathan E. Villagran, 19, who may have been looking to sell marijuana — he was carrying almost two ounces — or to speak with a female student with whom he had a relationship, when he was turned away because he is not a student, said Milton Police Chief Richard Wells.
Video surveillance shows that Villagran remained near the front of the building as school officials called 911 and police came to the school, the chief said.
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“The first responding officers were able to determine that he was not a student there and that his intention was to get in the school for not a school-related purpose,” Wells said at a news conference outside the police station. “In that conversation, they were also able to determine that they felt he was extremely nervous and he had a very strong odor of marijuana about him.”
Police discovered that Villagran was carrying not only marijuana but also a loaded handgun, an open bottle of rum, and about $3,000 in cash, Wells said.
Villagran was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm on school property, possession of ammunition, possession of Class B drugs with intent to distribute, and disturbing a school operation.
He is being held on $100,000 cash bail and is expected to be arraigned in Quincy District Court on Thursday, Wells said.
As officers were speaking to Villagran, another nonstudent was found to have entered the school building through a back door.
“We’re not sure what his intent was to go in there,” Wells said. “He’s not charged; he’s not under arrest. But based on the fact that there were two . . . the school was placed into a lock-down mode and a full search of the facility.”
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Wells said the two individuals involved were not connected.
Villagran never had any contact with students, Milton Schools Superintendent Mary C. Gormley said in an e-mail to the school community.
“Although he never entered the school, out of concern that this individual might not have been alone, it was determined that the school should be put into a lock-down as a preventative measure,” Gormley said.
School officials had asked parents not to come to the school, but that did not stop some.
Stephanie Battles, 43, was awaiting word from her 15-year-old son, Jose Monteiro, whom she believed was locked inside the school’s weight room.
“It’s on lock-down. That’s all we know,” she said. “They said for the parents not to come to the school — but yeah, right.”
Battles said she was “extremely worried. Worried for my child, but worried for all the kids.”
Evan Allen of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.