Schools

Teenage boy arrested after teacher stabbing at Tewkesbury School

A Gloucestershire secondary school is in lockdown today, with education secretary Gillian Keegan 'deeply concerned' after incident

A Gloucestershire secondary school is in lockdown today, with education secretary Gillian Keegan 'deeply concerned' after incident

10 Jul 2023, 12:09

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A school has been locked down after reports that a pupil stabbed a male teacher

A teenage boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a stabbing at Tewkesbury School.

Gloucestershire Constabulary said an adult has been taken to hospital with a suspected stab wound following the incident at the secondary academy.

The force was called at around 9.10am this morning, shortly after the school opened, to reports a pupil had stabbed a teacher.

It was initially thought the suspect had fled the scene and hidden himself within the school grounds.

Following a search of the wider area, the suspect was arrested by firearms officers in Stoke Orchard – around five miles from the school – at 11am, the force said. A knife was seized during the arrest.

Police have established that no-one else was injured during the incident.

The motivation behind the attack “remains unclear”, assistant chief constable Richard Ocone told reporters this afternoon.

He added that there was “no evidence” at this stage in the investigation to suggest the attack was terrorism-related, but police were keeping an “open mind” while further enquiries were undertaken.

The victim was taken to hospital with a single stab wound and remains in a stable condition, Ocone said.

This morning, education Secretary Gillian Keegan said she was “deeply concerned” by the incident.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and remain hugely grateful to the emergency services who are currently on the scene,” she added in a statement on Twitter.

Incident a ‘worrying time’ for staff, parents and pupils

“My department is on hand to support the school as the situation unfolds.”

Parents and carers of pupils at the school have been advised to go to Dobbies Garden Centre near the school where police “will be able to offer assistance”, the force said.

Earlier the force tweeted that the school was in “lockdown” while police were at the scene.

In a letter to parents this morning, Tewkesbury’s principal Kathleen McGillycuddy said it appreciated “this morning has been a worrying time for all associated with Tewkesbury Academy”.

“We were alerted shortly before 9am this morning to reports of a serious incident which left a male member of staff in need of hospital treatment”.

She added that the school remained in lockdown “as a precaution” and hoped to provide a further update to parents “once cleared by police in the near future”.

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We were called at 09:08hrs to an incident in Tewkesbury on Monday 10 July.

“We sent three double-crewed land ambulances and two operations officers. We conveyed one patient by land to Gloucester Royal Hospital.”

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