A school has been put in lockdown, with distraught children allegedly scaling fences to escape, after reports of a gunman on the scene.
Pupils at a secondary school in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, were described by family as being left upset when kept inside and unable to call parents.
Armed police from Sussex Police descended on the coastal town today after reports that a man was seen with a gun.
Schools were placed into lockdown for almost two hours and police cars and dogs have been searching the area, with no suspect said to have been detained.
The main school affected has been the Regis School – a secondary 11-18 academy with close to 1,600 pupils, which is next door to the Arena Sports Centre.
Parents rushed to the Regis School following advice to collect their children, while pupils from nearby schools were stuck inside the sports centre.
A mother with two children at the school said: ‘The whole school has just been placed in full lockdown.
‘I have gone down to collect my children and they are just hysterical. I have never witnessed anything like that.
‘There are children in the leisure centre next door who were stuck in there for two or three hours – there are children climbing over fences to get out.
‘Kids are trying to call their parents and then being told off for using their phones. It has just been so poorly managed.
‘There are dogs and probably five police cars in the car park. It is just carnage.
‘Parents are now turning up to pick up their children. My daughter was just hysterical and sobbing.’
Sean Whitworth, grandfather to children at the school, said: ‘The police won’t say anything to anybody. My daughter has gone down to get the kids out the school.’
Lucy Mackay, receptionist at the Regis School, said: ‘The police have informed us of an incident which took place in the local community and due to that we put the school into a partial lockdown.
‘That incident has finished and we are no longer in a lockdown.
‘Lots of parents are here to collect their children and we have given them that choice.
‘Lots of the children are hyped up by what is happening. They were locked up between 11:30am and around 1-1:15pm.’
A spokeswoman from Regis School has now said: ‘Earlier today the police informed us of a live incident in the local community and asked us to put in place our standard procedures for such times.
‘To reassure parents, the incident was not school-related and we were able to continue to operate a normal school day.
‘As you would hope and expect, students behaved perfectly throughout this time, and I would like to thank staff for their leadership and support.
‘The wellbeing of our students is our highest priority, and we will always follow the advice of the emergency services when requested.’
A Sussex Police spokesman said: ‘At around 11.10am today, police received a report of a man seen with a suspected firearm in Firth Road, Bognor.
‘Due to the close proximity of nearby schools, police advised them to implement temporary lockdown procedures while searches of the area were carried out.
‘All schools have since reopened.
‘Wider search activity, including armed officers, is ongoing and a visible police presence continues in the area.
‘Anyone with information or footage that may assist the investigation is asked to contact police online or by calling 101, quoting reference 450 of 22/10. In an emergency, always dial 999.’
