A Franklin Township teenager is facing charges after a loaded gun was allegedly found in his backpack while at school, Somerset County’s prosecutor said.

Somerset County Prosecutor Michael Robertson said his office received information last Friday that a student Franklin Township High School was allegedly in possession of a loaded firearm while attending classes.

Detectives responded to the school and quickly located and removed the student from a classroom to a high school security office.

Robertson said detectives obtained a search warrant for permission to search a backpack belonging to the student. He said a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered from inside the backpack. 

The 17-year-old student was transported from the school to Franklin Township Police Department for processing.

The prosecutor said the teenager was charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. The juvenile was lodged at the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center pending a detention hearing.

Robertson added that the initial information that law enforcement received revealed that there were no known threats to the students or faculty.