A 14-year-old Roxbury student was arrested Wednesday morning, Oct. 28, 2026, after Boston police said they found a loaded ghost gun in his waistband inside Snowden International High School at 150 Newbury St. in the Back Bay. The Boston Police Department said the weapon was a Smith & Wesson ghost gun loaded with 10 rounds of live ammunition, and that the teen is expected to be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court.
Key facts: Arrest about 8:30 a.m. Oct. 28 · Student age 14, from Roxbury · Loaded ghost gun, 10 rounds · Four juvenile delinquency charges · No report that the gun was fired
What police say happened at Snowden International
According to the Boston Police Department’s account, officers from the department’s School Engagement Unit were on patrol around 8:30 a.m. near the Newbury Street school when a person approached them and said the school had learned that a student had a firearm.
After that conversation, police said, an officer saw the student walking between the school’s campuses near the corner of Newbury and Exeter streets. The officer left his cruiser and went to the school entrance, where a school resource officer told him he believed one of the students was carrying a gun.
More officers arrived and went to the school office, where the student was. Police said that during a frisk they recovered a firearm from the student’s waistband and took him into custody. Investigators identified the weapon as a Smith & Wesson ghost gun, meaning a firearm without a serial number, loaded with 10 live rounds.
The Boston Globe reported that police said there was no indication the gun had been used on school property, and that a Boston Public Schools spokesperson declined to comment and referred questions to police.
Charges in Boston Juvenile Court
Because the suspect is 14, the case is being handled in juvenile court, and police did not release his name. The department said he faces delinquency complaints on four counts:
- Unlawful possession of a firearm
- Carrying a loaded firearm on school grounds
- Possession of a firearm without a license
- Possession of ammunition without a firearm identification (FID) card
The charges are allegations. A juvenile is presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise, and juvenile proceedings in Massachusetts are generally closed to the public, which limits what will be released about the case.
Not the first gun found at the Back Bay school
The arrest is not the first of its kind at Snowden. The Globe noted that in January 2024 a 15-year-old Snowden student was arrested and charged after police said he brought a loaded gun to school in his backpack.
Snowden International is a Boston Public Schools high school with an international studies focus. Its main building is a historic structure on Newbury Street, one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, which means students move between school space and a crowded commercial district during the day. Police said the student in this week’s case was first seen walking between the school’s campuses, not inside a single building.
The Boston Police School Engagement Unit, which made the arrest, works with Boston Public Schools and patrols around school buildings. Its officers responded alongside a school resource officer, the staff member who first told police he believed a student was armed.
Ghost guns and Massachusetts law
“Ghost guns” are privately made or assembled firearms that do not carry a manufacturer’s serial number, which makes them hard to trace. Massachusetts added new rules on them, including serial-number requirements, in a sweeping 2024 gun law. That law is on the Nov. 3 ballot as Question 9, which asks voters whether to keep or repeal it. Our Question 9 explainer lays out what a yes or no vote would do.
Police have not said where the student got the gun, and no information has been released about how the school learned he had it. Two of the four charges, possession without a license and possession of ammunition without an FID card, reflect that the student did not hold the state credentials required to carry a firearm or ammunition.
What families can do
Boston police ask anyone with information about guns in schools or elsewhere to call the department or use its anonymous tip line, CrimeStoppers, at 1 (800) 494-TIPS, or text the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463). The department says tips can be given anonymously.
Parents looking for Boston Public Schools updates can follow our Boston school news page, and other police and fire stories are collected on our Boston crime and public safety news hub. Key dates for the rest of the school year are on our BPS calendar page.
The Boston Report will update this story if prosecutors, the court or Boston Public Schools release more information.
Sources
- Boston Police Department: 14-year-old arrested for bringing firearm to school in Boston (Oct. 29, 2026)
- The Boston Globe: 14-year-old Boston high school student arrested after allegedly bringing loaded ghost gun to school
- Mass.gov: Massachusetts law about guns and weapons
Additional sources
- NBC Boston: Boston student arrested for bringing gun to Snowden International High School
- Boston Public Schools
- Boston Police Department newsroom and tip line information
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