Antelope High School was locked down for about 30 minutes Tuesday morning after a student reported that another student had a firearm in class.

Principal John Becker in a letter to parents said the gun proved to be a pellet handgun.

The presence of the gun on campus was reported to school administrators about 10:30 a.m. A student had seen a classmate with the gun during class, said Brad Basham, executive director of personnel with the Roseville Joint Unified School District. Although the student with the gun was being discreet, Basham said, it wasn’t just a matter of the gun being spotted in a backpack.

The student who saw the gun took the first opportunity to report it to administrators, Basham said.

Administrators worked with the Sacramento County sheriff’s on-site resource officer to place the campus on lockdown as deputies arrived to search the campus. The student, a 16-year-old boy who had been at the school only a few weeks, was found and taken into custody by deputies without resistance, Basham said.

Basham said the state Education Code prohibits students from having pellet guns on campus. The gun resembled a firearm and it took deputies some time to determine that it was a pellet gun, he said.

The student has been suspended because of the threat posed by the presence of the gun on campus and violation of the Education Code, Basham said, and the district will initiate a recommendation for expulsion.

It has not been determined why the student brought the pellet gun to school, and Basham said the youth will have an opportunity to explain his actions.

“He will be given due process,” Basham said.

But he said the district is determined to send a strong message that it will not tolerate this type of behavior.

Basham and the principal commended the student who reported the gun.

“We try to teach our kids when you see something, say something,” he said.