A 16-year-old accused of having a gun at Roseville Area High School last week tried to hand the weapon over to another student to hold it when he found out school officials were going to search him, according to charges.

School officials told a Roseville police officer about 1 p.m. Oct. 24 they’d be searching two students they believed may have guns. They searched a 17-year-old, who is the brother of the younger teen, and found a bullet in his backpack, according to a juvenile petition filed Tuesday by the Ramsey County attorney’s office.

The officer went to the area where the 16-year-old was and noted he “was agitated and walking around the room holding a long metal pipe,” said a separate juvenile petition filed by prosecutors last week. The officer took the pipe, called for backup and handcuffed the 16-year-old.

In the 16-year-old’s backpack, the officer found a handgun loaded with a magazine containing 15 rounds, according to the petition. The teen had given the gun to another student to hold when he found out about the planned search, but the other student refused, the petition also said.

Prosecutors charged the 16-year-old with possession of a dangerous weapon on school property and possession of a gun by a person under age 18.

The 17-year-old had been working one-on-one with a teacher, and his backpack was still in the room when he left that classroom. His bag was searched and he was charged Tuesday with possession of ammunition by a person under age 18.

On Sept. 25, also at Roseville Area High School, two handguns were confiscated in separate incidents. A 17-year-old pleaded guilty to having a gun in his backpack. A 16-year-old was accused of running out of the school and putting an item, later found to be a handgun, in a wooded area; he also pleaded guilty in juvenile court.

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