SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP/WJLA) - Montgomery County police have arrested a Silver Spring man for holding up eight people with a sawed-off shotgun at a hotel party.

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Police say the party's hostess had rented a hotel room at the Homewood Suites hotel in Silver Spring and texted her friends to let them know which room she was in. It was anything but festive when the she let someone in who she thought was a guest, but he wasn't there to party.

Police say 18-year-old Jackson Julius walked into the room, pulled out the shotgun and robbed the guests of cash, personal items, phones and other items, the very things that may have helped police track him down.

Investigators won't say how, but they tracked Julius down on a Ride On bus five miles away. He had a duffel bag full of the stolen items and the sawed-off shotgun.

Police say it's not clear how he found out about the party, but that this should serve as a cautionary tale.

“When you put a message out like that, electronically, it can be forwarded to thousands of epople who have countless motivations,” says Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County Police.

According to online records, this isn't Julius' first brush with the law. He now faces several charges of armed robbery and firearms offenses.