GLEN BURNIE, Md. (WJZ)–A loaded gun is found inside a school! A tenth-grader at Glen Burnie High School faces serious charges and officials are praising observant staff members for averting a potential tragedy.

Meghan McCorkell has more on how the teen was caught.

School officials say it was a secretary who noticed the teen sneaking back into the school building who first raised the red flag.

A .22-caliber handgun loaded with seven rounds was found in the backpack of a student at Glen Burnie High School. A school secretary stopped the 15-year-old boy when he came in the main doors of the building around noon. He’d left campus, which isn’t permitted, and was immediately brought to the office.

“Two assistant principals began questioning the student. Answers just weren’t adding up. Things weren’t lining up,” said Anne Arundel County Schools spokesman Bob Mosier.

So they searched his bag and found the gun.

The find has other students nervous.

“It makes me feel like they’re not certain on what students bring things to school,” said student Dante Stanley.

Detectives in Anne Arundel County are now trying to determine just how that teen got his hands on a loaded gun.

“There’s no indication that he displayed the weapon, was working with anyone else or made any threats to anyone,” said Justin Mulcahy, Anne Arundel County Police spokesperson.

A school resource officer took the boy into custody. The boy had only been a student at Glen Burnie for a few weeks. Now school officials are praising the staff for their quick thinking.

“You have all these protocols and plans in place. They’re only as good as the people on the ground,” Mosier said.

School officials have emailed a letter home to parents and say the boy could potentially be expelled.

That teenager has been charged as a juvenile with four weapons charges. Police say he will most likely be sent to Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George’s County.