Boy (17) arrested after three injured at English school during incident ‘involving a sharp object’

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after three people were injured at an English secondary school which went into lockdown.

Children described to their parents how they were lying on the floor and hiding under the tables during the incident at The Birley Academy in Sheffield on Wednesday morning.

A child was assaulted and two adults suffered minor injuries in the incident “involving a sharp object”, South Yorkshire Police said.

But the weapon involved is understood to be a broken bottle rather than a knife.

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Dozens of parents arrived at the school on Wednesday morning to collect their children, with many responding to frantic texts from the students in the school following the lockdown.

One parent told BBC Radio Sheffield how their child texted saying: “Mum, there’s a lockdown at school.

“There as an alarm, right bad, and then the head teacher told us to go back inside.

“The head teacher came out and told us to go back inside and now we’re on the floor. I don’t want to be here right now.”

Another parent said: “There’s a lot of rumours flying about.

“Kids were texting, saying there were people still in the building. [My daughter] texted saying she was under a table crying so I shot straight round.

“It wasn’t nice. I was a bit overwhelmed, so I nearly climbed over the gates at one point. But I spoke to the police and they assured me that everything was OK.”

There was a visible police presence at the school on Wednesday lunchtime after officers first responded to the school on Birley Lane at around 8.50am.

The school said it had gone into “lockdown” following the incident but that “all students and staff are safe”, and no one was taken to hospital.

Two adults were checked over at the scene after suffering minor injuries, the force said.

A child was also checked over after being assaulted.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in police custody.

A police spokesperson said: “Police will remain at the scene throughout the day to provide assurances to those in the school and the local community.

“We will provide further updates as and when we can.”

A statement from The Birley Academy said: “This morning we went into lockdown following an incident at the school and have since taken the decision to close the school.

“The safety of students and staff is paramount and all students and staff are safe. Three people were treated for minor injuries at the scene and no one was taken to hospital.

“We would like to praise our staff for their professionalism and our students for the way they responded. We continue to work closely with the police and will update as required.” – PA