The basketball courts at Walker Playground in Mattapan, where 11-year-old Daniyah Archibald and her friends have developed smooth jump shots, is considered a safe haven in the neighborhood. But during a school recess one day last March 27, that feeling of safety fell away as Daniyah picked up a purse left by a fence and found a loaded 9mm handgun inside.

“I felt kind of scared,” she said in telling her story on Monday night in Hunt-Almont Park during the National Night Out celebration for the B-3 police district. “I saw it and I didn’t want anything bad to happen in the park or someone else to come get it.”

A student at the adjacent Mildred Avenue School, Daniyah was playing basketball with friends when she spotted the purse. She thought it might belong to someone who was playing ball nearby. When they discovered the weapon, her first impulse was to flee but Archibald and her friend instead called Archibald’s mother, a paraprofessional at the Mildred Avenue School who told them to remain calm and make sure no other children got near the gun.

She then called the B-3 station, where officers Allan Kelley and Eric Mencey have developed a strong relationship with Archibald through the Community Service Office (CSO) and basketball.

On Monday night, B-3 Officer Derek Green presented Archibald with the district’s ‘Crimefighter of the Year’ award for her bravery. Mayor Wu and Police Commissioner Michael Cox both gave her big high-fives.

“It was a loaded handgun she found, and there was a magazine clip with 10 rounds in there, too – all on the playground,” Green said. “Daniyah did the right thing and has a great relationship with B-3 and the CSOs.”

Archibald cited her relationship with the local police, which dates to 2021. “That did help me because it prepared me to know what to do,” she said. “I might have done something different. Other kids that found it might have done something really different.”

Her mother, Dierdre Archibald, said she was very proud of her daughter for remaining calm.

“I worked hard on her and I’m happy she listened,” she said. “I’m so happy she found it and was responsible, called me, and made sure other kids didn’t get it and play with it because it could have been a bad situation.”

When she’s not in school or crimefighting, Daniyah plays basketball on courts all over the city and outside the city as a member of an AAU team. She also volunteers at the Mildred Avenue School to help younger students with homework.