A 13-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two pupils were stabbed at a school in Brent, northwest London.
Police were called to Kingsbury High School at 12.40pm on Tuesday, to reports that a 13-year-old boy was stabbed. Officers found a 12-year-old boy had also been stabbed.
Both the injured boys are in a serious condition and receiving urgent care, police said. One was taken to a major trauma centre, and the other to hospital.
Officers from Counter-Terrorism Policing London have taken over the investigation, as London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan warned anyone with information there was “no honour in staying silent”.
Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in northwest London, said: “The suspect, who we believe to be 13, left the scene following the stabbing.
“After urgent inquiries, our officers arrested him and also recovered a weapon which we believe to have been used in the stabbing.
“The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody for questioning by our officers.”
He said police were keeping an open mind as to any motivation behind the attack.
“However, due to the surrounding circumstances, the investigation is now being led by officers from Counter-Terrorism Policing London who are working closely with our local officers in response to this incident,” Mr Williams said.
“The investigation has not currently been declared a terrorist incident, and the investigation team will now be working at pace to gather any evidence and to establish the full circumstances of what’s happened as quickly as possible.”
He said the victims were understood to be in a serious condition.
Police officers spoke to pupils in a school hall more than three hours after school finishing time, and worried parents gathered at the school entrance.
The mother of one pupil told the Barnet Borough 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.”
London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan urged anyone with information to contact police, adding: “There is no honour in staying silent.”
“This awful violence has absolutely no place in our city,” he said.
The school’s headteacher said in a letter to parents and carers the stabbings were “a deeply traumatic event for the whole school community”.
Alex Thomas wrote: “We are working closely with the authorities and I will provide further updates as soon as I am able to share confirmed information. Please keep the students and their families in your thoughts.”
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said her thoughts and prayers were with the children stabbed in the “shocking” attack.
She wrote on social media: “The police have arrested the suspect, and I would like to thank them for their rapid work in doing so. We must now give them the space to pursue their investigation.”
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was heartbroken, and Dawn Butler, MP for Brent East said she was deeply shocked and saddened.
The leader of Brent Council, Muhammed Butt, said: “No parent should ever have to fear for their child’s safety at school, and it is horrifying to think of how someone so young came to be in possession of a weapon capable of causing such harm.”
Kingsbury High School is an academy school for children aged 11 to 18, with both upper and lower sites.
It has 1,997 pupils, according to the Department for Education.
Singer George Michael and jazz musician Courtney Pine both went there.
