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When a Springbrook High School student allegedly told Officer Rodney Barnes that he and another student planned to destroy the school, the Montgomery County police officer responded in his self-described "low-key" manner.

The reception from school staff at the Silver Spring school has been anything but.

At a faculty meeting Monday afternoon, Springbrook Principal Michael Durso commended Barnes and school security for their efforts to foil the alleged plot.

"We certainly got lucky this time," he said at the meeting. "Someone was looking out for us in addition to Mr. Barnes."

After Durso spoke, Barnes said he was just doing his job. "It could not have occurred without the diligence of staff and security," he told the audience.

Last week, Durso praised school officials for foiling an alleged attack by two Springbrook students at the Silver Spring school.

Barnes said the six-person security team at Springbrook knew the two students had been frequently truant and Yonata Getachew, 18, left school April 28 without being apprehended. Barnes stopped Anthony Nelson Torrence, 17, of the 13500 block of Greencastle Ridge Terrace of Burtonsville, who he had known previously as "not a bad kid," and said he had an "alarming" conversation with him, where Torrence allegedly disclosed their plans.

"Everything took off running from there," Barnes, who then contacted county detectives, said April 29.

Getachew of the 11500 block of Sutherland Hill Way in Silver Spring was arrested at his home April 28.

Both were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree arson, conspiracy to manufacture or possess a destructive device and reckless endangerment.

"There have been little things throughout the school year and this has begun to tie things [together]," Barnes said last week. "It wasn't something over the last couple weeks."

Durso said a factor in foiling the alleged attack was trust between the teenager and a police officer.

"Some students have not had a good police experience," Durso said. "Some parents haven't [either]."

Many teens have problems going to the police, Durso said, so it helps when there's someone they can trust like Barnes.

A former detective, Barnes has 25 years of police experience and has patrolled Springbrook for four and a half years.

"[Barnes] is as effective with his job as anyone I have seen," said Durso, who said students gravitate toward Barnes. "He's down to earth [and] easy to talk to."

After the meeting, Barnes described the nature of his job and how it can all change with one meeting with a student.

"You can be Attila the Hun if you want," Barnes outside the school's cafeteria. "But that attitude won't be what you [need] in a moment of notice."

Longtime Springbrook teacher Joyce Amatucci taught Barnes when she taught at High Point High School in Beltsville in the 1970s.

"He doesn't push things aside – he takes things serious," she said. "It paid off."

As Amatucci kept an eye on students during test time Thursday, she said April 29, the day after the students were arrested, was just another day at Springbrook thanks to Barnes and the school's security team. She added that she doubted the students could have successfully implemented the attack.

"The day went totally normally," Amatucci said. "It's a testament to the students."