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Police continue to look for a man who shot at his ex-girlfriend with a high-powered rifle before fleeing the scene in Bethesda this morning.

Joshua Prince, 32, fired at least one shot at 7:17 a.m., in an apartment building in the 6400 block of Rock Forest Drive which runs alongside an Interstate 270 exit ramp, Montgomery County police spokeswoman Angela Cruz said. The woman was not hit.

Prince may be driving a 2004 black Chevy Tahoe with a Maryland license place 27992M5, police said.

"We're not sure of his location at this time. He possibly could have fled, he possibly could still be in the area," Cruz said.

The incident caused roads to be closed and Walter Johnson High School and Tilden Middle School in Bethesda to be placed on high alert.

The schools were operating under a code blue alert, Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Dana Tofig said in an e-mail. The external doors of both schools were locked during the code blue, which was lifted before 11 a.m., he said.

In a typical code blue situation, classroom instruction continues inside the building and students can move around the school, but exterior doors are locked, according to the school system's website.

The north and south ramps of the I-270 near Rockledge Drive and Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda are reopened, Cruz said.

Police did not know if either Prince or the woman lived in the apartment where the shooting occurred.

ccalamaio@gazette.net