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Gun found in second-grader's backpack

A LOADED handgun was found inside a second-grader's backpack at the Samuel Daroff Charter School on Thursday, the third time this year that a gun has been found in a Philly school.

A LOADED handgun was found inside a second-grader's backpack at the Samuel Daroff Charter School on Thursday, the third time this year that a gun has been found in a Philly school.

Authorities were called to the school, on Vine Street near 56th, in West Philadelphia, about 4 p.m. Officials told police that a 7-year-old boy was putting a folder into his backpack at the end of the day and made the surprise discovery. He immediately alerted a teacher.

"We're currently investigating the specifics of how this kid came in contact with the weapon," said Lt. John Walker, of Southwest Detectives. Walker said that the gun was a .38-caliber revolver containing five rounds.

On Jan. 11, a 21-year-old woman was arrested at South Philadelphia High with a loaded gun in a baby's diaper bag. The same day, a ninth-grader at Benjamin Franklin High was caught trying to smuggle a gun into the school in his shoe.