A report of a gun at Semiahmoo Secondary in South Surrey Wednesday morning ended with a 13-year-old boy detained by police.
Officers raced to the 1785 148 St. high school following a 10:45 a.m. report of a student with a possible firearm.
Cpl. Barb Creighton said police moved quickly, identifying the student and seizing a handgun-style pellet gun. She did not know if the clear-plastic gun was loaded.
"From the time they called us to when it was diffused, it was 10 minutes," Creighton said.
The youth did not threaten other students, and no one was in danger, Creighton said.
School district spokesman Doug Strachan said the incident unfolded between classes, and was dealt with quickly enough to avoid locking the school down.
"A safety report was ready to go but not initiated because the police reported they had him in custody," Strachan said. "It never got to that point."
Both Creighton and Strachan described bringing a weapon to school as "a bad decision."
The teen will not be criminally charged, Creighton said, noting any punishment to be levied will be determined at the school level. Strachan could not say what that might be, but noted school officials "will have some discussion with (the student in question) and his parents."
The incident is the second involving Surrey students with guns reported this year.
Feb. 2, about a dozen Tamanawis Secondary students were arrested in Kelowna after a police officer noticed one of them tucking a pistol in the back of their sweat pants.
The weapon was one of two replica handguns seized from the basketball team; a second was found in the purse of a player's mother, who was a team chaperone.