Gun found in backpack at Strawberry Mansion High

Strawberry Mansion High School was placed in lockdown for two hours starting at 8:30 yesterday morning after security guards manning X-ray machines at the North Philadelphia school's entrance detected a handgun in a student's backpack.

The student was turned over to Philadelphia police, said Fernando Gallard, a district spokesman.

Gallard did not know the type of handgun or whether it had been loaded. He said the student, a male 10th grader, would be arrested and expelled from the district to a disciplinary school. Bringing a firearm to school results in an automatic expulsion, he said.

- Martha Woodall