19-05-2025
St Andrews Cathedral School plunged into lockdown after man ‘threatened' staff
The school where water polo coach Lilie James was murdered has been plunged into lockdown after reports a man had threatened staff.
St Andrews Cathedral School, located in Sydney's CBD, was locked down by police on Monday about 9.45am after reports a person had broken into the grounds.
Parents were alerted about the lockdown by text message, Daily Mail reported.
The man allegedly 'threatened staff and then returned to the campus', a police spokesman told NewsWire.
'The school was placed in locked down and a search of the building, on the corner of Druitt and Kent Streets, was conducted with the assistance of specialist resources,' they said.
Despite 'extensive searches', the man could not be located.
The lockdown has since been lifted, police confirmed.
'An investigation is now underway into the incident, and inquiries continue to locate the man,' police said.
Ms James was murdered by Paul Thijssen on the evening of October 25, 2023, when he cornered her inside a bathroom of the prestigious Sydney private school where they were colleagues.
The water polo coach died due to bunt force trauma to the head after being attacked with a hammer by her ex-partner, whom she had broken up with a few days before her murder.
Hours after the murder, Thijssen took his own life by jumping from a cliff at Vaucluse, with his remains found in the rocks at Diamond Bay Reserve two days after Ms James' murder.
