A 14-year-old boy was taken into police custody after staff at a Harlem middle school recovered a .380 semiautomatic firearm from the teen’s backpack Wednesday, the third gun found in city schools this week, cops said.
The teen was fighting with another student in the cafeteria at MS 371 School of Earth Exploration and Discovery (SEED) Harlem, located on W. 130th St. near Convent Ave., around 1 p.m., police said.
When school staff broke up the fight, they searched the youth and found the weapon stashed in his backpack, cops said.
“This item was quickly recovered by outstanding school staff, ensuring students and staff are safe,” a NYC Public Schools spokesperson said. “We are offering additional security and support to the school community in the coming days.”
Charges against the teen were still pending Wednesday evening.
The discovery follows the arrests on Monday of two students at schools in Manhattan and Queens for carrying firearms.
In Manhattan, a 17-year-old boy, sought as part of an ongoing NYPD investigation into a complaint for reckless endangerment, was found with a gun tucked into his waistband at Harlem Renaissance High School, on E. 128th St. near Madison Ave. in East Harlem, around 10:15 a.m., cops said.
Less than an hour later, police responding to a fight in the cafeteria of Long Island City High School, on Broadway near 14th St. in Astoria, found a 15-year-old student in possession of a loaded 9-mm. gun, law enforcement sources told the Daily News.
The older student was charged with criminal possession of a firearm, while the 15-year-old was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
Neither the Queens or Harlem high schools nor MS 371 are equipped with scanners to detect firearms.
