The police searched a school in Wuppertal. An eyewitness is said to have seen a masked person with a knife in the area of the high school. The final exams had to be postponed.
Update from April 19, 2024, 6:24 p.m.:
After a tip about a “suspicious person,” the police searched a Wuppertal high school with a large contingent on Friday and then gave the all-clear. “We no longer assume there is a risk,” said a police spokesman at midday. The search of the school has been completed. There are no injuries.
However, the Abitur exams at the school scheduled for Friday were canceled. The decision was made after consultation with the police, the school ministry in Düsseldorf said at the request of the German Press Agency. The exams now have to be rescheduled. According to the ministry's website, the deadline for the affected subjects is May 23rd.
A caller called the police emergency number around 10 a.m. and reported a suspicious, possibly armed person, the police reported. After heavily armed special forces searched the building complex, the students were led out of the building and taken to waiting buses. Further investigations should clarify whether there was any danger at all. Security sources said they couldn't find anything suspicious on site.
The situation on site was certainly very stressful for everyone involved, said NRW Schools Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU). “This especially applies to the high school graduates who prepared intensively for today and whose exam then had to be canceled. I wish you good luck with the follow-up appointment!”
The city of Wuppertal set up a contact point for relatives and emergency services in the immediate vicinity of the school in a residents' registration office, a spokeswoman said. There are also several school psychologists on duty.
An eyewitness reported to the police a suspicious person at the school in Wuppertal
First report:
Wuppertal – A large police operation is underway at a Wuppertal high school. This was triggered by a reference to a “suspicious person”. As
Bild
reports, heavily armed officers from the SEK as well as forces from evidence preservation and arrest units (BFE) are currently on site. Videos on X (formerly Twitter) show them entering the building.
“As usual after such information, we are on site with stronger forces to ensure security and to check whether there is anything to it,” said a police spokeswoman. The alarm was triggered shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday (April 19). A witness observed a masked person with a knife at the high school and then called the emergency number.
The spokeswoman added that there were significant traffic delays due to the massive police operation. The high school is located on Sedanstrasse in the Barmen district of Wuppertal. It is advised to avoid the area.
Police operation at school in Wuppertal: rescue workers provide care for students and teachers
According to
Bild
, nothing is currently known about any injuries. Parents, rescue workers and emergency pastors are on site to look after the students and teachers.
Recently there was a major police operation at a Berlin school after a suspicious person was reportedly seen there. In February there was a shocking knife attack in front of a school in Italy: a student stabbed her English teacher. The knife attack could have been fatal. Such as the case of the attack by a student in St. Leon-Rot in Germany who killed his ex-girlfriend at school.
(dt/dpa)