‘Panic and horror’ over suspected school stabbing
A parent says ‘‘panic and horror’’ set in upon hearing that her daughters’ Wellington school was in lockdown yesterday afternoon.
One injured person was taken to hospital after a suspected stabbing at Tawa College. One person had been arrested, a police spokesperson said, although charges have not yet been laid.
Police arrived at the high school on Duncan St after an incident was reported at 2.15pm. The earlier lockdown was lifted about an hour later.
Students inside the school believed there had been a stabbing. The school later said students and staff on site were ‘‘safely accounted for’’.
Police said the incident was an isolated one, and they believed it posed no threat to the wider community.
A Capital and Coast District Health Board spokesperson said one patient was being assessed in the emergency department.
A student, who did not want to be named, said it was ‘‘a little bit scary’’ when her classroom went into lockdown. She had never experienced a lockdown before, only drills.
Another student was outside the school, about to go into class, when she saw five police cars, an ambulance and later a first response car drive up. ‘‘I thought, ‘This must be very serious’.’’
The incident was highly unusual for the school, she said.
Parent Danielle Simnor was at the school picking up her two daughters. ‘‘A bit of panic and horror’’ went through her mind when she heard there was an incident, she said. Simnor said the school had good procedures in place, telling parents immediately of the lockdown on its alert system.
An email sent to parents from the school at 2.22pm said the school had gone into lockdown as a ‘‘precautionary measure’’. Students reported being let out one year group at a time just after 3.30pm.
Tawa College was approached for comment.