Student charged after gun found in Philadelphia school

SUMMERDALE (WPVI) -- A Northeast Philadelphia high school was on lockdown for most of the day Wednesday after police found a gun inside.

An 18 year old student at Samuel Fels High School is now under arrest for allegedly bringing the gun to school.

Action News has learned it's not the first gun scare this week.

Lachada Johnson, a student at Fels, tells us, "They told us on the loud speaker that there was going to be a lockdown. And then they made us wait like a whole hour and a half to tell us that it was pretty serious and we were gonna be there a while."

Another student, Brian Biskupski, says, "Some students and teachers were on their laptops to see what was being reported on the Internet."

Around 9:30 this morning a student saw another student with a gun. They took a picture and showed school administrators, who locked down the school.

Brian Biskupski tells us, "They had Swat come in and check everyone's bag and all."

Action News has confirmed that the school was also locked down on Monday afternoon. No gun was ever found. On Tuesday there was a fight.

There is so far no word if those two incidents are connected with what happened today.

Four students were taken in for questioning. An 18-year-old has been arrested.

Police found an unloaded 38 caliber revolver in a trash can in the weight room.

School district spokesman Fernando Gallard says, "We do have metal detectors in this school but of course there are ways to get into the school beyond the front doors where the metal detectors are. So we are looking into how the gun got into the school."

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Carl Holmes says, "There are metal detectors there's surveillance of the entrances. So right now Northeast Detectives is doing an investigation. They're reviewing video of each entrance and exit."

For parents and students, a second lockdown this week is concerning.

One parent told us, "Parents need to know what their children are doing, what they're carrying, when they're coming to school, what they are doing in school."

Police are still trying to figure out where the teen got the gun. In addition to the criminal charges he is facing for bringing the gun to school, he will also likely face expulsion.