schools
Major operation at Wuppertal high school after emergency call
Police officers lead students in Wuppertal out of the building into an evacuation bus. photo
© Sascha Thelen/dpa
Eight weeks ago there was an attack at a high school in Wuppertal that left eight people injured. Now there was another alarm at a school. The Abi exams are interrupted.
After a tip about a “suspicious person,” the police called on a Wuppertaler on Friday with a large contingent The high school was searched and then the all-clear was given. “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 much success with the re-writing appointment!”
Due to the large-scale operation, there were severe traffic disruptions. The area around Sedanstrasse in Wuppertal-Barmen should be avoided, the police advised at times. A police helicopter was in the air above the high school.
Is there a connection to the Abi exams?
According to the homepage of the high school with around 700 students and 55 teachers, Abitur exams in biology, chemistry, physics and computer science were scheduled for Friday. Whether the alarm is related to the Abi exams is still being examined. “The caller is known to us,” said a police spokesman. It was later said that it was a woman. Further investigations by the criminal police should reveal more.
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.
Eight weeks ago there was an attack at another high school in Wuppertal. A 17-year-old high school student injured four classmates and himself with a knife in a break room. Three students suffered shock. The Wuppertal district court had issued an arrest warrant against the high school student for two counts of attempted murder and two counts of grievous bodily harm.
Just three days ago, a school in Düsseldorf was also searched following a tip-off about a suspicious person. As it later turned out, it was a student who had been handling an airsoft gun. He is now being investigated for violating the weapons law, it was said on Friday.
Press release