WEST WARWICK — Parents and students at Deering Middle School called for stepped-up security yesterday, a day after a seventh-grader was arrested for bringing an unloaded handgun to school.

Karen I. Wilson, the Deering principal, said three students told a teacher Wednesday morning they had heard that the 14-year-old boy had a gun.

The teacher relayed that report to Andrew Longo, the assistant principal, who interviewed the student, walked with him to his locker and patted down a backpack in the locker.

Suspecting there was a weapon in the backpack, Longo called in Jeff Petrarca, a police officer stationed at the school, according to police Lt. John Magiera.

Petrarca discovered a .25-caliber handgun in the backpack and arrested the student, Magiera said. It was unclear where the gun came from.

Wilson said the student told school officials he planned to flash the gun, after school, to intimidate a friend with whom he was arguing. That friend once attended Deering but is now at a school in another town, she said.

Though police found no ammunition, Magiera said the students who reported seeing the gun may have prevented a serious incident. “We’re pleased with how the students involved handled themselves,” he said.

The boy appeared in Family Court, Providence, on Wednesday, Magiera said, because the Kent County branch of the court is open only on Thursdays.

A judge ordered the student taken to the state Training School for the night and the boy appeared in the Kent County court yesterday.

Magiera said a preliminary hearing was set for June 28 and, depending on his prior record, the boy could face more than a year in juvenile detention.

Jenny Couture, a food server and cashier at Maisie E. Quinn Elementary School whose son attends Deering, said news of the arrest was chilling. “They need detectives at the door is what they need,” she said.

Several other parents picking up their children after school yesterday echoed the call for enhanced security. But Wilson said Deering, which shares a campus with West Warwick High School on Webster Knight Drive, is well protected by Petrarca and another officer routinely stationed at the high school.

“We have two officers on campus and we have always felt we had a good police presence,” she said, adding later, “they’re very visible and they are always present.”

Vanessa Contreras, a nurse picking up her son at the middle school yesterday, said she was upset that parents learned of the incident through their children and media reports, rather than a formal communication from the school. “I don’t understand why they didn’t contact the parents,” she said.

Wilson said the school, caught up in the whirl of events, did not have time to notify parents Wednesday. “Everything happened very quickly and it was taken care of by police,” she said. “The student and the weapon were removed from school.”

Wilson said she was preparing a letter that would go home to parents today, explaining the incident and praising the students who reported talk of a gun in school.

James DiPrete, the interim superintendent, said school officials are deeply concerned about the case. “You can be certain, and so can the public and so can the parents and students of the district, that the administration will look at this as a very, very serious issue,” he said.

State law requires that a student who brings a firearm or a replica of a firearm to school be suspended for a year. But the superintendent has discretion to reduce the length of the suspension.

dscharfe@projo.com