LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Lawrence teenager has been sentenced to six months of probation for bringing a loaded handgun to Free State High School last spring.

The student, who was 17 at the time, was charged as a juvenile. He was sentenced Friday after he pleaded no contest in September to criminal use of a weapon, a misdemeanor.

The  teenager could shorten the probation process by completing two of four options — a fatherhood course, a mentoring course, attending therapy or writing an apology letter to Free State High School.

On April 9, a school resource officer and a Lawrence police officer found a pistol in the boy’s backpack after receiving a tip from another student.

As part of his probation, he must stay employed or return to school.