Birley Academy Sheffield: Public in shock and calling for airport style scanners after incident at school

There has been shock and outrage from the public today following an incident at The Birley Academy, Sheffield, which saw a 17-year-old arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Police responded to reports of ‘an incident involving a sharp object at the school’ at around 8.50am today (May 1).

The school went into lockdown after someone entered the reception, and two adults and a child suffered “minor injuries”.

Councillor Denise Fox said: “My thoughts are with the people at the school. I'm gobsmacked. This will have come as a complete shock to everyone. People must be in a terrible state over this.

“Something has gone wrong and now we need to investigate what.”

Pupils shared how teachers put the tables against doors and allowed them to use their phones to speak to their parents, all while an alarm sounded.

One parent told The Star this morning: “It's been very calm and orderly. I'm very pleased with the school.

"[My daughter] said it was really calm. They were in their rooms. The alarm went off and they were locked in their classrooms.

"The school have been good, they've been really communicative. It sounds like they reacted really quickly."

It is understood that a new headteacher took up post just yesterday (April 30).

Another parent shared her distress on social media: “Just had to wait two hours outside school while in lockdown, with my daughter texting me she can hear screaming outside the dark room she was locked in.”

By around 11.30am, all children were understood to have left the school, and gates were closed.

One parent said: “It’s such a shock this is happening in school. It’s supposed to be a very safe place for our kids!”

People shared a feeling of despair, asking, “when is this type of thing going to end?”, “what is happening to this country?”, and debating homeschooling as an option.

Subscribe to The Star’s free newsletter

People also expressed frustration at the volume of crime happening both in Sheffield and across the country.

Another woman added: “Sheffield is becoming a joke … I wish I could afford to leave Sheffield, I’d go somewhere isolated.”

Commenting on Facebook, Dawn Betts posted: “Time to bring in airport type scanners to all schools now. Let the government spend some of our tax money on the safety of children.”

Another Facebook comment, from Simon Firth, reads: “My thoughts are with all the people injured in this senseless attack, and once again, thank you to all officers involved when most people run away from this sort of thing they are the only ones running towards it.”

Jules Hurst added: “Give it a couple more years and kids will be going through metal detectors to get to class. We live in a very sad world these days.”

Paul Savage added: “It’s time secrity is stepped at every single school in the country now.”

A suspect remains in police custody.