BROOKLYN — The 15-year-old Brooklyn student who was arrested after bringing a loaded gun to school on the first day of classes had no idea the weapon was in a backpack he told officers he borrowed from his brother, his lawyer told DNAinfo New York.
The teen, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was arrested after security officers at the Brooklyn School for Career Development in Clinton Hill found the .22 caliber gun after he allowed the bag to go through a metal detector.
His lawyer, Frederic Pratt, said the young man is a good student who didn’t have money to afford a new backpack and grabbed another one that was in his home and had the gun hidden in a secret pocket.
“He’s a good kid,” Pratt said after his client’s arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Friday. “He’s traumatized. He’s never been through anything like this before. He was crying.”
The teen, who has never been arrested before and maintains a B average, was going to go with his adoptive mother after school on Thursday to purchase a new bag from Modell’s, the lawyer added.
Security officers also found school papers in the bag with the student's name on them, according to a criminal complaint.
The teen was charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds.
He was held on $5,000 bond.
The Administration for Children's Services did not immediately respond to questions about whether it would investigate the student's claims.
