New York Teen Charged For Bringing Loaded Gun To School: Police

A 16-year-old high school student in Queens, New York, has been charged after he brought a loaded gun to a public high school over the weekend, police said.

School safety officers assigned to John Adams High School in South Ozone Park found that the unnamed teen's backpack contained a .38-caliber handgun when he went through a metal detector Sunday morning, New York Daily News reported, citing police.

The teen was charged with criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds and criminal possession of a loaded firearm, a report by the New York Post said.

No further details, including a possible motive, were released by police, but there was a basketball practice being held at the school at the time the teen attempted to enter, unnamed sources told the Daily News.

Authorities in New York reportedly found eight guns in schools between July 1 and Oct. 24 last year. In contrast, one gun was found in the same period in 2019 and two in the year before that.

None of the guns were fired inside schools.

Other weapons have also been seized from students, but some of them have been described as self-protection devices like Tasers and pepper sprays.

In a similar story, an unnamed high school student in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, was arrested last month after he was found to be in possession of a firearm and drugs inside a school bus.

School resource officers affiliated with the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office initially discovered that the Northeastern High School student had a jar filled with "green matter" — believed to be marijuana — during a search on the morning of Dec. 8.

The search, which occurred as the bus was stopped at River Road Middle School, was conducted after the bus driver noticed an odor of marijuana coming from a student and reported it to the school's administrators.

Authorities found an AK-47 pistol with a 30-round magazine in the student’s bag, and these were seized along with the jar.

The student was then taken into custody and charged with felony possession of a firearm on school grounds, misdemeanors possession of a firearm on school grounds and possession of marijuana, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, possession of a stolen firearm and possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana.

Additionally, the teen was charged with carrying a concealed weapon as there was a knife involved in the incident.

An investigation was launched, and police noted that the student could face more charges.

Both River Road Middle School and Northeastern High School were put under lockdowns following the incident, but they were lifted hours later.