A 17-year-old Glasgow High School student is facing multiple felony charges after a school resource officer, responding to a hallway fight, discovered the teen had removed his backpack before the altercation — and inside it was a loaded handgun and marijuana. The fight broke out around 1 p.m. Monday, September 14, 2026, at the Newark, Delaware campus on South College Avenue, according to officials.
The school resource officer and staff separated the students involved in the fight, then found the discarded backpack the 17-year-old had removed before the scuffle began, according to a Delaware State Police release. Inside, the officer recovered a loaded handgun and a small quantity of marijuana, police said. As reported by NBC10 Philadelphia, the student was taken into custody by state police and transported to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries sustained during the fight. Officials reported no other injuries.
Charges and Custody
After being discharged from the hospital, the teen was processed at Troop 2 and arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court, per the state police release. He now faces charges including possession of a firearm by a person under 21, possession of ammunition for a firearm by a person under 21, possession of a firearm in a safe school zone, possession of marijuana by a person under 18, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was committed to the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families under an $87,000 cash bond.
The state's Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services operates secure facilities, including the 64-bed New Castle County Detention Center in Wilmington and the 55-bed Stevenson House Detention Center in Milford, according to the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families. NBC10 reported it had reached out to Glasgow High School officials for comment, but as of publication, school officials had not responded.
A Familiar Scene at Glasgow High
This is not the first time a loaded gun has turned up in a Glasgow High School student's backpack this school year. Less than ten months earlier, on December 3, 2025, Delaware State Police arrested three Glasgow students after staff overheard them discussing a “trap” — slang for a handgun — which triggered a hallway struggle with the school resource officer and the recovery of a loaded, stolen .40-caliber handgun from a 15-year-old's backpack.
That weapon had been confirmed stolen from the New Castle City Police Department, according to the state police. In that case, the 15-year-old was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court No. 11 and committed to a juvenile facility on a $117,000 cash bond, while two other students, ages 17 and 18, were also charged with hindering prosecution, conspiracy in the second degree and offensive touching of a law enforcement officer, as reported by First State Update.
Security Upgrades Haven't Stopped Backpack Guns
The district announced in July 2025 that screening technology would be implemented beginning in fall 2025. The district also planned to replace middle-school SROs with constables while retaining SROs at high schools, according to Christina School District safety records.
Even so, the pattern at Glasgow High mirrors a broader trend across New Castle County. Hoodline previously reported that in nearby Edgemoor, New Castle County Police arrested a 17-year-old in August after finding a loaded 9mm handgun with an extended magazine and 80 grams of marijuana in his backpack, resulting in an $86,002 cash bail.
What the Law Requires Next
Under 11 Delaware Code § 1457A, knowingly possessing a firearm within a designated Safe School Zone is classified as a Class E felony, according to Justia Law. The article does not address a mandatory expulsion period or school-board discretion. Whether Christina School District will change its daily morning screening protocols at Glasgow High following this latest recovery remains an open question.
