Tewkesbury school stabbing latest – Teenager held on suspicion of attempted murder
Emergency services were called to the Gloucestershire school at around 9:10am on Monday to reports of a stabbing
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A teenage boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a teacher was stabbed at Tewkesbury Academy in Gloucestershire on Monday morning.
A student reportedly stabbed teacher Jamie Sansom, The Independent understands, whose condition is stable.
Following a lockdown lift, pupils began to filter out of the site on Monday afternoon.
“It was initially thought that the suspect had fled the scene and hidden himself in the school grounds,” Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone told reporters outside Tewkesbury Academy.
“Specialist resources, including the National Police Air Service and plain clothed officers, were deployed to search the wider area and thanks to their efforts the suspect was safely arrested by firearms officers in Stoke Orchard at 11am this morning.
“A knife was seized during that arrest. Searches have continued in order to ensure there were no further casualties and we can now confirm that no-one else was injured in this attack.
“At this stage the motivation behind the attack is unclear but at this time there is no evidence to suggest it is terrorism related.”
Have you been affected by this incident? If so email tara.cobham@independent.co.uk
Teenager arrested at Tewkesbury School after ‘pupil stabs teacher’
A teenage boy has been arrested at a Gloucestershire school after a pupil is reported to have stabbed a male teacher.
Gloucestershire Constabulary said an adult has been taken to hospital with a suspected stab wound following an incident at Tewkesbury School on Ashchurch Road.
Emergency services were called at around 9.10am on Monday to reports a pupil had stabbed a teacher at the secondary school, which was subsequently locked down.
My colleague Tara Cobham has the full story:
Teenager arrested at school after ‘pupil stabs teacher’
Gloucestershire Constabulary said an adult has been taken to hospital with a suspected stab wound following an incident at Tewkesbury School on Ashchurch Road
Lockdown lifted following incident at Tewkesbury Academy
Parents have been told their children can now leave Tewkesbury Academy following the incident on Monday morning.
Pupils who have their parents’ consent to leave the school early are being released from the site as a lockdown is lifted.
A statement to parents on the school’s website said: “We are now able to send children home but need to receive your consent in order to do so safely.
“Parents should arrive at Dobbies Garden Centre from 1pm where the police will co-ordinate the parents of each year group arriving at the academy to ensure every child leaves safely and efficiently.”
There will be additional buses to take pupils home earlier.
The statement adds: “If we do not receive your consent, children will be kept on site until 3.25pm.”
School and police ‘provided an incredible response in keeping our children safe’, says parent of Tewkesbury Academy pupil
Erica Farley, who has a child attending Tewkesbury Academy, told the PA news agency: “As an ex-emergency services member, this is a very sad and worrying time for Tewkesbury School.
“As a parent, I am obviously concerned for my son, but very happy in the knowledge that the staff at the school and the police have provided an incredible response in keeping our children safe and have brought this to a swift conclusion.
“It is worrying that these things can happen in any school and all the more important that as parents we take responsibility for teaching our children awareness of the destructive nature of this type of incident.
“As a family, our thoughts go out to the teacher concerned and hope for a speedy recovery.”
PM responds to Tewkesbury school ‘stabbing’
Rishi Sunak’s thoughts are with those impacted by the incident at a school in Tewkesbury, Downing Street has said.
Mr Sunak’s official spokesman in a statement on Monday said: “It is a live investigation, but the prime minister’s thoughts are with the individual who has been injured and with the staff and pupils of the school who would obviously be extremely concerned.
“He wants to thank the police and emergency services for their ongoing response,” the spokesman added.
‘Hero’ teacher praised by parents
A teacher has been labelled a “hero” by parents at Tewkesbury Academy who believe that he tried to stop a fight to protect a pupil, The Telegraph reports.
A teenage boy has been arrested after a student reportedly stabbed a teacher at the Gloucestershire school, with pupils with parents’ consent to leave early now filtering out of the site following a lockdown lift.
Pupils pictured leaving as lockdown lifts
Pupils have been pictured leaving Tewkesbury Academy as the lockdown is lifted.
A statement to parents on the school’s website said: “We are now able to send children home but need to receive your consent in order to do so safely.
“Parents should arrive at Dobbies Garden Centre from 1pm where the police will co-ordinate the parents of each year group arriving at the academy to ensure every child leaves safely and efficiently.”
There will be additional buses to take pupils home earlier.
The statement adds: “If we do not receive your consent, children will be kept on site until 3.25pm.”
Father tells BBC of teacher who ‘barricaded the door’ and kept students ‘cool’
A father whose daughter attends Tewkesbury Academy has told the BBC that a teacher “barricaded the door” to keep students safe.
“They [the pupils] were all scared but my daughter has been absolutely fantastic. I’m very proud of her,” Daniel told the BBC.
As his daughter video-called him following the incident, Daniel saw her teacher “supporting the whole class.”
“The teacher sat right by the door. He barricaded the door, put some boxes there and kept everyone cool even though he must have been scared himself”, he said.
Where is Tewkesbury Academy?
Tewkesbury Academy is located in Tewkesbury, a market town in Gloucestershire.
It is approximately 12 miles north of Gloucester, and had a population of 85,800 in 2015.
Tears and hugs as pupils reunited with parents
There were tears and hugs as pupils from Tewkesbury Academy in Gloucestershire were reunited with their parents after the stabbing incident, which saw a teacher injured and the school locked down by police.
Year 7 student Katie Gardiner, 12, was collected from the school gates by her worried parents Martyn and Julia Gardiner.
“It was quite scary as we had never had anything like that before. My old primary school also got shut down,” the schoolgirl told the PA news agency.
“The teachers did a really good job in keeping us calm and making sure we had fun.”
Her mother said that once the school was locked down, teachers allowed students to switch on their mobile phones and message their families to say they were safe.
The school rules are that mobile phones are switched off as soon as the children enter the school in the morning.
“We are really relieved to see her. We know she has been safe for many, many hours but until you actually see them you don’t know,” Mrs Gardiner said.
‘It doesn’t happen here’, says parent of Tewkesbury Academy pupil
Martyn and Julia Gardiner, the parents of Year 7 student Katie Gardiner, 12, said the school and police had kept them informed.
Mrs Gardiner said: “Hearing about it this morning felt very strange - it doesn’t happen here. I know it sounds a cliche and you see it happening on the news in other places.
“We had a message from the school saying they had gone into lockdown, which was obviously quite frightening, and they would update us.
“We got the alert to come down to Dobbies where the police were brilliant in keeping us informed of what was going on.
“The school was communicating throughout the morning. The students were allowed to turn their phones on, which we were most grateful for.
“They are allowed to have their phones in school, but they have got to be off the moment they go through the school gates.
“They were all locked in the classrooms, so they were allowed to turn their phones on and I got a text message to say she was OK.
“We couldn’t ring but we were allowed to text, which was really reassuring.
“They had quite a lot of fun with sweets and doing a geography quiz and the teachers did a fantastic job keeping everyone calm.”
Mr Gardiner said: “The worst always goes through your head when you see everything happening at other schools.”
