Police have rushed to a school after pepper spray is believed to have been released inside the building, injuring at least 25 people.
A large-scale emergency response is currently underway at the Johannes-Kepler-Gymnasium school in Leonberg, Germany. According to police, pepper spray was used, affecting several students and teacher who are currently being treated by paramedics.
Initial police reports indicate that approximately 25 people have been injured. Police, fire department and ambulance services are on site in large numbers. The school has been evacuated. The police said: “People are asked not to obstruct the work of the emergency services on site,” reports krzbb.de.
(Image: Getty Images)
It comes after a series of pepper spray attacks in schools in Germany at the end of last year. On November 19, the incident at Europaschule (European School) Köln in Raderthal, Cologne, saw nine of 20 injured children rushed to hospital.
Police confirmed the “mass casualty incident” alert, which is believed to have been caused by pepper spray being used. The incident was sparked by an altercation involving teenager pupils inside the school building around 2:20pm local time.
Emergency services were initially called to treat one person but that was quickly upgraded to a “mass casualty incident” when they were encountered several pupils suffering.
Reports suggest that most of the children were suffering from severe eye irritation. Police believe the incident was sparked by a single 16-year-old who used the spray after being attacked.
Then on December 1, another suspected pepper spray ‘attack’ is reported to have taken place at a Humboldtstraße vocational college in the area of Perlengraben in the city centre at around 10am local time.
Numerous emergency services raced to the scene with police currently believing that the pepper spray has been used by multiple people.
Initially, police thought only six people had sustained injuries but the number of victims rose considerably. Victims reportedly complained of sudden respiratory and eye irritation with seven taken to hospital for further treatment.
Both teachers and students were allegedly victims of the pepper spray attack with police hunting several suspects.
A spokesperson for Polizei Köln told German publication Express.De: “According to initial witness statements, several unknown individuals sprayed pepper spray in the hallways at around 10am and then fled.”
Eyewitnesses reported 17 emergency vehicles and 40 personnel on the scene of the incident.
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