photo by: Journal-World File Photo

Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana St., is pictured on July 28, 2016.

Story updated: 4:50 p.m. Thursday, June 27, 2019.

A boy who brought a handgun to Lawrence High School in his backpack earlier this year was convicted Wednesday in Douglas County District Court.

After entering a plea of no contest, the boy was convicted as a juvenile for criminal use of a weapon, a misdemeanor, by Judge Bethany Roberts. Specifically, according to charges, he possessed a gun with a barrel less than 12 inches long while under the age of 18.

With the plea deal, a charge of property damage stemming from the same incident was dismissed.

The incident happened Feb. 6 at LHS, 1901 Louisiana St.

That day the boy had thrown his school-issued laptop computer at a door, breaking a window in the door, prosecutor Bryant Barton said the state’s evidence showed.

The boy was called to the office of the assistant principal, who in addition heard from other students that the boy might have a gun, Barton said. He said the assistant principal looked in the boy’s backpack, found a handgun inside, then called in the school resource officer.

There was no incident involving the gun, and no students or staff were threatened with it, school officials said previously.

The teen’s sentencing was set for July 29.

The student’s exact age was not available, but he was born in 2004, according to court records.

The boy was not in custody at Wednesday’s court hearing. He is currently enrolled at LHS, Lawrence school district spokeswoman Julie Boyle said.