A teenager has died after being fatally stabbed at a school in Sheffield, as police arrest a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of murder.
The male victim, also 15, was rushed to hospital with ‘serious injuries’ after the attack at All Saints Catholic High School where police were called to the school at 12.17pm today.
Emergency services, including paramedics and an air ambulance, raced to the scene on Granville Road.
Classrooms were plunged into lockdown with the school grounds closed in the aftermath.
Sadly he was confirmed to have died from his injuries shortly before 4pm.
It has been claimed that the teenage boy was ‘stabbed three times’ by a fellow student he had ‘shared threatening messages with.’
A local youth, 18, who has friends at the school said the incident came after the two students had sent each other menacing messages.
It comes after the school was reportedly placed into lockdown on January 29 over ‘threats of violence’ between a ‘small number of students.’
The youth: ‘I’ve heard it happened after they were sending threatening text messages.
‘The boy got stabbed three times and was carried in a stretcher.
‘I live locally, there was the incident a few days ago but I’ve not heard of anything else here.’
South Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield said in a statement outside the force’s headquarters: ‘It is with great sadness that I share with you today, a teenager has died following the stabbing at a Sheffield school earlier today
‘Our thoughts are with the family of the boy, his friends and the whole school community.
‘At 12.17pm, emergency services were called to All Saints Catholic High School on Granville Road.
‘The victim, a 15-year-old boy, suffered serious injuries and despite the best efforts of the ambulance service, he sadly died a short time later.
‘A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in our custody at this time.’
Assistant Chief Constable Butterfield went on: ‘We know that what has happened will cause significant distress and concern.
‘I would like to reassure you that our officers will remain on scene and in the local area to offer reassurance to parents, staff and local residents as our investigation continues.
‘Although we are in the early stages of our inquiries, we are working at pace to build a full picture of how this tragedy has unfolded.
‘We urge you to be mindful that there are loved ones at the centre of this and they are grieving the profound loss of a teenage boy in the most devastating of circumstances.
‘We would therefore ask you to avoid speculation and the sharing of online content which could be distressing to them and detrimental to our investigation.
‘We urge anyone with any information that they believe can assist us to get in touch.’
In a message home to parents today, the school said: ‘Students will be released when police give permission.’
This marks the second time in less than a week All Saints’ has been locked down, after staff and pupils were given the ‘stay put’ order on January 29 over ‘threats of violence’ between a ‘small number of students.’
This first incident led to those involved being ‘escorted off the premises’ with no violence or injuries reported.
Headteacher Sean Pender said in a message to parents that today’s the incident involved two students.
He said: ‘I am writing to inform you that today we have dealt with an extremely serious incident here in school resulting in us going in to a lockdown procedure.
‘The incident involved two students, one of whom we believe has been seriously injured. All other students are contained and safe.
‘The police and paramedics are present in school. Once the police allow us to, we will be releasing all students from school.
‘I understand the level of anxiety you will be feeling without knowledge of the nature of the incident but at this time I have limited information to share with you whilst we have police and paramedics on site.
‘I will endeavour to update you with as much information as possible at the earliest opportunity.
‘We ask for your prayers and support at this time.’
A parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Star today: ‘This is frightening to hear so soon after a previous incident and I hope and pray everyone is okay and the incident is resolved peacefully.
‘Now is not the time for recriminations but the school will have some serious questions to answer in the coming days.’
Amaan Ahmed, one of the managers at Castle Asian Community Trust and Mosque in nearby Norfolk Road, said: ‘This area has seen an increase in crime recently. Cars are being stolen and vandalised, there has been an increase in anti-social behaviour – it is quite rampant in the area.
‘It is concerning, especially being a community centre.
‘We provide facilities for people to pray and we have children who are afraid. We are very saddened to hear the news from the school.’
A 2023 Ofsted report rated the school, which had 1,398 pupils at the time, as ‘good’.
Inspectors found that most pupils behaved well, and they said ‘a strong ethos of warmth and respect pervades this school’.