Boston woman charged after allegedly trying to bring loaded gun into Suffolk courthouse

A Mattapan woman was arrested Thursday morning for trying to bring a loaded gun into the Suffolk Superior Courthouse, according to District Attorney Kevin Hayden.

Octavia Kelly, 22, was arraigned in Central Boston Municipal Court and ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Tuesday, the prosecutor said in a release.

Kelly faces charges of possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a license, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, and illegal possession of a loaded firearm, Hayden noted.

She was arrested just before 10 a.m. by Boston police and Suffolk Superior Court officers after the courthouse security scanning machines detected a handgun inside a clutch-style bag, which had been placed inside a shoulder-style bag, the district attorney said.

Kelly reportedly told officers that she had come to the courthouse to support her boyfriend who was scheduled to be arraigned on firearms charges, and “I don’t know anything about the gun in my bag.”

This arrest comes a week after a man attempted to bring a loaded gun through a TSA checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport, the district attorney noted.

“In both of these cases the security equipment and the operating personnel did precisely what they are supposed to do—detect and secure dangerous items, in both of these cases loaded guns,” Hayden said.