Handgun, bullet, toy gun prompt lockdowns at 3 Philly elementary schools
It was a busy morning for Philadelphia police, as they responded to two schools in Northeast Philadelphia and one in West Philadelphia.
Philadelphia police recovered a handgun, a bullet, and a toy gun Friday following lockdowns at three elementary schools.
The handgun was found on an 8-year-old student at the Universal Daroff Charter School, 5630 Vine St. in West Philadelphia, about 10:15 a.m., police said. It was not immediately known how the child obtained the weapon. Detectives were speaking to one of the child’s parents, police said. The lockdown was lifted at 10:27.
Earlier, a lockdown was put in place at the J. Hampton Moore Elementary School. 6900 Summerdale Ave. in Northeast Philadelphia, after officials received a report of a student entering the building with a gun. The lockdown was lifted about an hour later, at 9:44, after police found a fourth grader with a plastic toy gun, officials said.
“Please take this as an opportunity to make clear to your child that bringing something like this to school is unacceptable,” principal Tim Glynn said in a message to parents about the lockdown.
Separately, at 10:28 a.m., Thomas Holme Elementary School, 9125 Academy Rd. in the Northeast, was placed on lockdown after a girl was found to have a live bullet. The lockdown was lifted at 10:43. Police were trying to determine how the child obtained the bullet.