Armed police called as school goes into lockdown over weapon fears
Armed police called as school goes into lockdown over weapon fears
The school was placed into lockdown for around an hour while firearms officers attended
Firearms officers were called following the incident which happened at Lewis School Pengam, Caerphilly borough
(Image: Mark Lewis )
A Welsh school was placed into lockdown over fears a pupil had brought a weapon onto the premises in their bag. Firearms officers were then called following the incident which happened at Lewis School Pengam, Caerphilly borough, on Monday morning.
Staff at the school decided to place all students in a lockdown situation at around 9.30am and contacted parents later in the day.
In a statement seen by WalesOnline head teacher Chris Parry explained no-one was harmed during the incident. He said: 'We responded to an incident within the school utilising our school lockdown procedure.
'Police were in attendance and the incident was dealt with within the hour. School has returned to normal schedule.
'We appreciate this can be unsettling for pupils and parents and our pastoral team are checking in on their groups.' Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here.
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A spokesman for Gwent Police added a pupil was searched at the scene and no weapon was found before the school returned to normal.
'We received a call at around 9.40am on Monday, May 12 reporting a potential concern for safety on the premises of Lewis School Pengam after a comment was made about an alleged weapon in a pupil's bag.
'The school was put into lockdown and officers, including specifically-trained firearms officers, attended as a precaution. The pupil and bag were searched and no weapon was found.'
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In March the teaching union NASUWT Cymru reported there were 6,446 violent incident reports from schools in Wales between 2023 and 2024 compared to 4,714 the previous year.
The Welsh Government is set to deliberate on the outcomes of a recent round table on violence and safety in schools at an upcoming behaviour summit.
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