Police disarmed a 14-year-old boy who showed up at West High School in Manchester yesterday with a loaded handgun stuffed in his waistband.

Police were called to the school after someone tipped off school officials about the gun, said Sgt. Mark Fowke.

With officers on the way, Assistant Principal MaryEllen McGorry escorted the boy from a classroom.

McGorry is a former Hillsborough County prosecutor who left the legal field to work first as an English teacher, then as a school administrator.

"We feel that she acted appropriately, swiftly and judiciously,"said Frank Bass, an assistant school superintendent.

The student became "agitated and combative" in the hallway when officers arrived and found the loaded .32 caliber handgun in his waistband, Fowke said. After a brief struggle, they confiscated the weapon.

The student did not threaten anybody with the gun, Bass said. No one was hurt, classes continued and police were investigating why the boy brought the gun to school.

The boy was suspended immediately for up to 20 days and faces an expulsion hearing before the suspension expires.

He also faces juvenile delinquency charges in Manchester District Court and possibly adult charges of unlicensed possession of a gun and resisting arrest, Fowke said.

Officials said school faculty did not consider the boy to be a dangerous or troubled student.

"There's been nothing in his past that indicated to us that he constituted a danger to the building," Bass said. Police wouldn't comment on how the boy obtained the gun or who told school officials about it.

City police post school resource officers in all public middle and high schools.

There are no metal detectors in Manchester's public schools now, but that could change, Bass said.

"We will talk to the police department and to our administration to find out if we need to do anything differently," he said.

By BEVERLEY WANG

The Associated Press