‘Masked knifeman’ storms school as screaming children ‘barricade themselves in classrooms’ (video)
Police with heavy weapons have stormed a German school following rumours that someone was carrying a knife inside.
Parts of the town centre and Sedanstrasse High School in the Barmen neighbourhood of Wuppertal, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, have been cordoned off.
Police responded to allegations of a masked attacker at the school at approximately 10 a.m. local time on April 19, after pupils reportedly locked themselves in their classrooms before exams were scheduled to start.
Parents had begun to arrive at the scene, looking concerned. The police reported that no one was hurt.
Images of a constant stream of armed specialist police officers approaching the school were posted by reporters on the site.
German police wrote on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “Current operation at a school in #Barmen : The police are on site with many emergency personnel and are clarifying the situation. Please avoid the area. #Wuppertal”.
Police spokesman Andreas Reuter told BILD: “The operation began shortly after 10 a.m. this morning. We received information about a suspicious person in the school area.
“We then brought together strong emergency services and took appropriate measures.”
Watch videos from the scene below.