Teen charged with bringing loaded gun into Boston school

Tyshawn Lewis-Smith, 17, pleaded not guilty in South Boston District Court to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery on a police officer, among other charges. He was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail and is due back in court on April 16.

Lewis-Smith, a junior at Odyssey High School, one of four high schools in the South Boston Education Complex on G Street, tried to enter the building through a side door at about 8:15 a.m. to avoid metal detectors at the main entrance, according to a Boston Police report.

Two school police officers, who are separate from the Boston Police and do not carry weapons, confronted Lewis-Smith inside, the report said.

One of the officers felt a gun in Lewis-Smith's waistband during a patdown, according to the report, prompting the teen to push the officer and run outside towards Thomas Park. The school officers pursued Lewis-Smith and told police that he pointed the gun at them during the chase. Lewis-Smith was eventually arrested near his residence on Annunciation Road.

The gun, described in the report as a Beretta Tomcat 32 model, was found in a trash bin. It had one live round in the chamber and seven in the magazine, the report said.

No one was hurt in the incident. A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said authorities were investigating Lewis-Smith's motive for bringing the gun to school.