Moment white British boy, 15, is arrested by armed police after teenage girl pupil is stabbed in school

This is the moment a white British boy was arrested by armed police after a teenage schoolgirl was stabbed at school.

Teachers confined their students to classrooms using cupboards and desks as a knifeman fled for more than an hour following a stabbing attack at Thorpe St Andrew School, near Norwich.

The school was placed on lockdown after armed police arrived at the scene at around 10.24am and terrified students were told to hide and turn off their phones.

Police teams also sent police drones to the scene to find the suspect, who was thought to have escaped after jumping over the fence.

Officers arrested a 15-year-old boy, who police initially said was aged 16, on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent at around 11.30am and took him to Wymondham Police Investigation Center for questioning.

After students left school, a 13-year-old girl described how she was making art when the school alarm went off and a teacher told them to get under the desks.

The girl, who was with her mother, said: ‘A girl was coming back from the toilet and this man came and stabbed her.

‘It was said that in seventh grade a teacher carried a locker to the front door. We were told to go to our room.

‘The alarm was always on. I was once told it was a different alarm than a fire alarm and we had never heard of it before. “It was a lockdown alert.”

‘The teacher told us to rest. He kept the radio to his ear all the time.

‘We were then taken to school to line up. That’s when I heard some people see [the stabbing].

‘They said they saw a girl with blood running down her back.’

The girl’s mother said: ‘There are many theories floating around as to why this happened. Some say it has a connection to it, but there is also a theory that there is no connection at all.

‘There is no information that he knew her.’

The woman’s teenage son is also a student at the school. He said: ‘The alarms went off and we were told to go under the tables. The doors were closed.

‘The school was closed with barricades. A few people moved the cabinets in front of the doors.

‘If you are already in a class, you have been told to stay in the class. If you’re walking, you’re told to get into the nearest classroom and make sure you’re safe.’

Another student said he saw a girl ‘covered in blood’ and that they were worried about students texting each other between classes.

Photos of the boy’s arrest were taken by a woman walking her dog a few meters from the scene.

A student named Letizia Brister, 16, said that the school bell started ringing around 10.20 and did not stop.

He said: ‘We closed the door, locked it and then barricaded it by pushing a table in front of the door.

‘We didn’t know what was going on but we felt very safe.’

Her father Leon Brister said: ‘The communication from the police and the school was awful but Letizia said the protocol at the school was great and she felt safe, which is the main thing.

‘This just wasn’t explained to the parents.’

He said his first contact from the school was ‘basically while the kids were scattering’ and described it as ‘waiting in agony for two and a half hours, being left waiting in near darkness with no information’.

‘When you’re out there with your heart and blood in, you have to stay in the loop a little bit better,’ he said.

About 100 parents came to the school grounds and begged police for more information after hearing reports on social media.

One parent shouted at officers: ‘Get the f*ck kids out’.

Another said: ‘If my son is under the table and someone comes with a knife, I want him to be aware they’re coming.’

One student who was able to reach his family sent the message “I’m so scared”, while another sent the message “I just want to go home”.

The young girl, thought to be a 10th grade student and aged between 14 and 15, was taken to the hospital with ‘mild injuries’.

It was learned that other schools in Norfolk also kept children inside during lunch, while Thorpe St Andrew School remained in quarantine.

said Darren Evans, a father whose daughter is in eighth grade. Eastern Daily Press: ‘The communication from the school was shocking.

‘If it wasn’t for Facebook and the news I would have no idea what was going on.

‘I last heard from my daughter an hour ago. There’s a complete lack of communication.’

Another parent added: ‘It’s so scary not hearing anything from the school. Your mind kind of starts spinning, you have kids at school and you don’t know what they want.

‘Because you have no knowledge of what’s going on in the world, your mind suddenly takes a turn for the worst.

‘You automatically assume the worst and think something terrible has happened. I mean, there is. ‘You automatically think this is something much worse.’

A teacher at the school said they were told to stay in the classroom with students and told ITV News Anglia: ‘It’s one of those things you practice but never thought you would.’

As the school was on lockdown for almost three hours, teachers used items such as lockers and desks to barricade classroom doors.

One parent, Adam Howlett, told the news outlet that he still hasn’t heard from his daughter, although he has heard from his son who is still locked in the classroom.

He said: ‘Even minor injuries are scary when it comes to your child. You don’t come to school expecting to get injured. I’m just waiting to get some news and put my mind at ease.’

Another parent, Shantelle Taylor, said she was “absolutely pissed” when she heard about the incident from a friend rather than from the school.

“I managed to reach my daughter despite being told she wasn’t even allowed to send me a text saying she was okay, which I think is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

The alarm was still going off at the school just before 1pm, but one of the security personnel at the school told parents waiting outside ‘don’t worry, everyone is safe now’, the BBC reported.

While the first students will be removed from classrooms around 1.20pm to be reunited with their families, students who cannot leave at this time will be kept in the school hall.

Police said today that the stabbing was ‘not believed to be linked’ to reports of anti-Semitic chants at an under-15 football match at the school last week.

Last week, Jewish teenagers claimed they were told to “go back to the gas chambers” and called spectators “dirty Zionists” at a school football tournament.

They also heard repeated “Jewish” chants and insults directed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while a mixed-race boy claimed he was called a “N***** Jew” by the crowd during the quarter-finals of the Under-15 national football tournament on March 5.

One child claimed he was called a ‘monkey’; The term was used by Islamic extremists as an insult against the Jewish people.

Students from the Free Jewish School (JFS) in London told the Daily Mail they felt ‘threatened’, ‘hurt’ and ‘ashamed to be Jewish’ after hearing the offensive remarks, which they said started from the moment the team started warming up on the pitch at Thorpe St Andrew School.

JFS students claimed that after they raised their concerns, staff ‘didn’t seem to care’ and instead allowed the abuse to continue.

The audience appears to have consisted mainly of Thorpe St Andrew students.

The school, which was rated Good in the 2025 Ofsted inspection, is a mixed 11-18 secondary school that also includes a sixth form.

A statement from the Broad Horizons Education Trust, of which the school is a part, said: ‘We have clear procedures and our staff acted quickly to ensure the entire school was placed on lockdown, with children remaining in their classrooms with their teachers.

‘One of our students was injured and is being treated in hospital with minor injuries.

‘This has clearly been a distressing experience for our whole community and our focus now is on ensuring all students feel supported as we begin to understand what has happened.’

Norwich North MP Alice Macdonald described the incident as “incredibly serious and extremely worrying”.

On X he wrote: ‘We must immediately give the police time to ensure every child and adult at school is safe.

‘My thoughts are with them all at the moment, especially the victim who was taken to hospital and their families who will be extremely worried.

‘My office is trying to get the latest information to understand exactly what happened. I’ll keep you updated as I learn anything.’

A spokesman for Norfolk Police said: ‘Police were called to a school in Laundry Lane, Thorpe St Andrew, at 10.24am this morning following reports that a teenage girl had been stabbed.

Upon notice, fire brigade and ambulance were dispatched to the scene and the road was closed to traffic. The injured person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

‘A 15-year-old white British boy was arrested nearby on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He was taken to Wymondham Police Investigation Center for questioning. He remains in custody.

‘The road was reopened around 14:00. There are many police cordons in and around the school.

‘Officers will be carrying out reassurance patrols both at the school and in the area over the coming days.

‘This incident is not linked to a hate crime reported at the same school last week.’