Police are probing whether a double stabbing at a school in north London was a terrorist attack.
Two boys, aged 12 and 13, were rushed to hospital and remain in a ‘serious’ condition after the incident unfolded around 12.40pm at Kingsbury High School in Brent.
A 13-year-old boy has since been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody. A weapon has been recovered which officers believe was used for the stabbing.
An investigation has been launched by the Metropolitan Police‘s counterterrorism unit, though the incident is not yet being treated as a terror attack.
Detective Superintendent Luke Williams told the media at a press conference tonight that police were made aware the one boy, 12, had been stabbed when they arrived at the scene.
They later discovered that another victim, a 12-year-old boy, had also been stabbed.
The attacker fled the scene after the incident, but was arrested by officers after an urgent manhunt was launched.
The Daily Mail understands that the stabbing took place on school premises but it remains unclear whether it was in a classroom.
Two boys, aged 12 and 13, were rushed to hospital and remain in a ‘serious’ condition after the incident unfolded around 12.40pm at Kingsbury High School in Brent
Police are probing whether a double stabbing at a school in north Londonwas a terrorist attack
Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams revealed on Tuesday evening that the incident is being investigated by the police’s counterterrorism unit
One of the two victims was rushed to a major trauma centre as a priority, the London Ambulance Service said, with both of the victims’ conditions earlier understood to be ‘life-threatening’.
Photographs from the scene showed a number of emergency vehicles swarmed around the school.
In a post on their website, Kingsbury High School said there had been a ‘serious incident’ at the site.
Staff spoke directly to the parents and carers of the students involved, adding that the situation is now ‘under control’.
The school was on lockdown earlier on Tuesday with no one able to enter or leave the grounds.
One mother of a Year 8 student told the Brent and Kilburn Times: ‘I’ve been panicking, a lot of kids don’t have their phones on them so I couldn’t get through.
‘They had to leave their bags and stuff.
‘At least I have her now. It’s awful – so awful – what happened, that someone would even bring a knife to a school.
‘My daughter said that a fire alarm went off when it happened.’
Kingsbury High School is an academy school serving children aged 11 to 18, with both upper and lower sites.
According to the latest Department for Education information, it has 1,997 pupils.
It traces its origins to Kingsbury County School, which opened in 1925 in a building which had been the office of the former Aircraft Manufacturing Company. It moved premises in 1932.
Alumni include Wham’s George Michael, jazz musician Courtney Pine, Floyd Steadman, the first black captain of the Saracens rugby team, and writer Ekow Eshun.
The London Ambulance Service said they were called at 12.41pm to reports of a stabbing on Bacon Lane.
They added: ‘We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, incident response officers, an advanced paramedic, a paramedic from our tactical response unit and a clinical team manager.
‘We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance.
‘We treated two patients in total. We took one patient to hospital and the other as a priority to a major trauma centre.’