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Golden said that the district is examining a possible connection between Friday’s incident and one on April 17 when police arrested a 15-year-old female student from Lincoln and a 17-year-old male companion as they walked along the 3300 block of Guilford St., about a block from Lincoln. Police confiscated a loaded .45-caliber handgun.
That morning, Lincoln personnel broke up an argument between two groups of students, the district said at the time, and tips were relayed to police about a possible after-school confrontation.
Administrators again suspended the Lincoln student involved in Friday’s incident and are taking steps to remove him from the school, Golden said.
Capt. Jack McGinnis, who heads the Northeast Detectives Division, said the student grabbed the gun during a break-in of a car in North Philadelphia, where the youngster lives. He has been charged with theft from auto, recklessly endangering another person and related charges.
McGinnis said that while he also has heard of tensions between different groups of students at Lincoln, no major problems come to mind.
"I think overall it’s not too bad," McGinnis said.
Last fall, the Times reported on conflicts between African-American and West African students at Lincoln. At the time, Capt. Frank Bachmayer, who commands the 15th Police District, worried that turmoil festering behind Lincoln’s doors could soon bubble over into the community.
"I’m concerned about things happening inside that may come outside (the building)," he told the Times in November.
Last week, Bachmayer said that despite the apparent warring factions at Lincoln, few major incidents have occurred at the school since he arrived in the 15th district last year.
According to the school district’s safety office, a total of 314 incidents took place on school property and in the area surrounding Lincoln during the 2005-06 school year. Of those, there were 102 confirmed arrests.
Bachmayer, whose district also includes Frankford High School, said that an officer patrols the area around Lincoln daily and that officers from the Neighborhood Services Division, which largely handles abandoned vehicles, and the Highway Patrol also monitor students as they leave school.
One of the reasons why neighborhood-wide monitoring is needed is because an estimated one-third of Lincoln’s population comes from outside neighborhoods.
"My goal is to have high visibility at the schools," Bachmayer said. "So far, we’ve had some success up there. We haven’t had a lot of issues."
His district’s truancy efforts also have been helpful, the captain said. Enforcement is up 93 percent from this time last year.
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Lincoln also gets help from eight school police officers and five safety-support staffers with We Over Come, a non-profit community organization from West Philadelphia, said Golden. Some individuals, however, questioned the training and conduct of some members of the non-profit group in a Daily News article published in January.
Additional security measures at the school include metal detectors and security cameras. The teen suspect in Friday’s episode, however, was caught because a staff member saw him and knew he was on suspension, Golden said.
Were the recent weapons cases at Lincoln isolated incidents?
Reports of disorderly conduct, theft and weapons offenses did decline at Lincoln between the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 school years, according to statistics compiled by the school district. But the school saw jumps during that period in the areas of student and teacher assaults and vandalism.
There were 40 assaults of students and seven assaults of teachers at Lincoln during the 2005-06 school year.
The school fares worse than Frankford High School, the Northeast school closest in student population to Lincoln. Frankford had 20 student assaults and six teacher assaults in that year.
When compared to Northeast High School, which has almost twice the number of students as Lincoln, Lincoln had recorded more incidents in every crime category except for disorderly conduct and weapons.
Calls made regarding those statistics to Marylouise DeNicola, East Region superintendent, and Albert Bichner, deputy chief academic officer for the school district, were not returned as the Times went to press this week.
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Despite what statistics may suggest, in addition to two gun incidents in four weeks, Lincoln principal Don Donley told the Times that the public and the media need to focus on the good things going on at Lincoln.
"I am concerned that an article is being written that focuses on isolated incidents of poor behavior by individuals who are not our students or more accurately represent truants and disenchanted youth from the streets," Donley wrote in an e-mail.
Donley, who came to Lincoln in 2005, talked of, but did not elaborate on, intervention programs and explained that many students participate in service clubs and earn honors in various academic, sports and extracurricular competitions throughout the year.
Donley, however, was unable to schedule a time to meet at the school with the Times to further discuss issues at Lincoln, although publication of this story — actually spurred by the late-April weapons incident — was delayed for two weeks in hopes of arranging an in-depth interview with Donley.
According to Golden, the local Mayfair Town Watch group and the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network keep in touch with Lincoln regarding outside incidents involving students.
Scott Cummings, who heads the Mayfair Civic Association and is also involved with the Town Watch and the 15th District Police Advisory Council, said that Lincoln tries to reach out to the community.
"We’ve heard just your basic minor complaints," Cummings said. "Outside of a few kids drinking behind the school and smoking, there hasn’t been much."
But some local residents perceive no positive change in the behavior of Lincoln students who walk their neighborhoods.
"I think the problems have increased," said Holmesburg resident Virginia Murphy, who had written a letter to the Times after a series of fights occurred at Lincoln in 2004.
John Ruppert, who lives on Shelmire Street, across from the school, also thinks that Lincoln still poses a problem.
"This neighborhood is not as safe as it used to be, or as it’s being portrayed," he said. "It hasn’t improved."
His neighbors complain about some Lincoln kids showing disrespect for them and their properties and using profanity.
"The worst is when they get out of school," he said. "If they walk through the neighborhood with the respect they want themselves, that would be OK."
He’s happy that his son Justin, 16, who went to school with many of the students at Lincoln, now attends the Creative and Performing Arts High School in South Philadelphia.
Jim Duffy would like to follow Ruppert’s lead. His 14-year-old son will attend Lincoln this fall. Duffy has been trying to get him into a charter school, but so far the teen has been placed on three waiting lists.
Duffy said he observed problems at Lincoln when his daughter attended Redeemer Lutheran School, which is across the street on the corner of Ryan Avenue and Sackett Street.
"When the school let out, it was horrible," Duffy said of students’ conduct. "I don’t want to leave it to chance (with my son)."
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Students at Lincoln give mixed opinions about their school.
Some students heading to campus Monday morning said that Friday’s gun incident was a first-time occurrence and that they felt safe. Others said that the school is plagued by fighting and weapons incidents.
"This happens a lot," said one male student who declined to give his name.
"This is the second time this has happened," a female student said, noting, though, that she does feel safe at the school because she "doesn’t mess with nobody."
A freshman student who was interviewed prior to Friday’s incident said that he’s transferring to another school because of the problems at Lincoln.
"It’s my first and my last year (here)," he said. "Just ’cause I don’t want to put up with what goes on here."
The student, who identified himself only as Eric, said that three to five fights occur at the school daily.
"The main thing is people trying to be (tough)," he said. "It’s neighborhood against neighborhood. It is a lot of people in the area, too (who cause problems)."
But Alex Murphy, 16, a sophomore involved with several extracurricular activities at the school, says Lincoln is fine.
"I prefer it here," she said.
Another sophomore, 15-year-old Christina "Kit" Sheppard, has found education at Lincoln to her liking.
"People judge this school too much," Sheppard said. "There have been one or two problems. They don’t really think about the good things." ••
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com