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An NYPD spokesman confirmed the boy's arrest, which happened at PS 373 at 91 Henderson Ave., West Brighton, a District 75 school for children with developmental challenges.

(Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 10-year-old boy has been arrested after bringing an unloaded gun to a New Brighton summer school program and threatening his classmates, according to police.

An NYPD spokesman confirmed the boy's arrest, which happened at PS 373 at 91 Henderson Ave., a District 75 school for children with developmental challenges.

The boy brought in an unloaded firearm and threatened students at the school, though no one was injured, the spokesman said.

The boy's name has not been released.

One parent, a mother of a 9-year-old student at the school, told the Advance that her son walked in on the 10-year-old as he showed the gun to another student in a bathroom Friday morning.

The 9-year-old said he'd tell their teacher, and later, when he stood up in the cafeteria during breakfast, the 10-year-old grabbed him, put the gun to his chest, and threatened his life, she said.

While the older boy threatened her son, "he kept pulling the trigger," the woman alleged. The mother spoke on condition of anonymity, saying she feared retaliation.

The younger boy kept quiet, but school staff noticed the older boy acting strangely during the day and realized he was carrying a weapon, the mother said.

Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Education, said the 10-year-old boy faces disciplinary action, and that the school's principal sent a letter home to parents.

"On Friday morning, a male student who attends P373 on Staten Island was taken to the local precinct for weapon possession. He reportedly brought an unloaded gun to school and showed it to two other students. The male student faces disciplinary action," Ms. Feinberg said.

She wouldn't comment on whether the boy would return to the summer school program, citing confidentiality policies.

The letter came from principal Ilene Goldstein Harne. It reads:

"Dear P373R Parents:

"We wish to make you aware that there was an incident at our school today in which one of our students brought an unloaded firearm onto school property. Police were immediately involved and took possession of the weapon. Appropriate disciplinary actions are being taken with the student involved.

"However, I want to reassure you that your child's instructional program was not interrupted and all students had their normal Friday activities today in a safe and secure environment. Please feel free to call if you should have any questions."

The younger boy's mother questioned the security at the school -- staff members in the cafeteria didn't see what happened, and the fact that he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt during the summer didn't go noticed until later in the day, she contended. "This kid gets in the bus... Nobody noticed nothing."

She was called to the school later that day and told that her son had been threatened. "When he came downstairs, he was so pale. He was stuttering," she said, questioning why a counselor hadn't spoken to him.

Her son, she said, is scared to return, and she's been wrangling with school administration about her transfer options.

According to data collected by the state Department of Education, PS 373 reported 10 "violent and disruptive" incidents over the 2010-11 school year -- the most recent data available through the state agency. They include one incidence of weapon possession, one of drug possession, six assaults without weapons -- two of which resulted in serious physical injury -- and two minor altercations.

The 2011-12 school year data is expected to be released in August.