Large police presence in Dinslaken in North Rhine-Westphalia: a youth is said to have been discovered there with a weapon. After the incident on Wednesday, however, the situation is still unclear.
In Dinslaken, investigations continue after a suspicion of a weapon at a school and a large-scale police operation. “There are still measures going on at the moment,” said a police spokesman on Thursday. More information about the case is expected on Friday.
According to the investigators, an employee of the comprehensive school saw a young person in a basement room on Wednesday “who is said to have held a firearm in his hand”. When the teenager noticed the employee, he fled. Due to the possible danger, a large-scale police operation followed. Around 900 students and teachers were escorted out of the school building.
All clear in Dinslaken, but three arrests
In the evening, however, the police gave the all-clear. Three juvenile males were arrested, two of whom are still in police custody and the third is at large. “Despite several indications of a firearm, this could not be found during the search measures carried out,” it said in a statement in the evening.
After a massacre at a Texas school, the fear of similar acts of violence has apparently grown again in this country. On Tuesday, an 18-year-old man massacred a school in Uvalde, a small town in the US state of Texas, killing 19 elementary school children and two teachers before he was killed by police.
In Dinslaken, the police were also represented with special forces in the closed streets at the school on Wednesday. People were waiting on the sidewalks nearby, ambulances were waiting. The students and teachers escorted out of the building should be given medical and psychological care, police said. Numerous rescue workers, police officers and emergency chaplains were ready.
The investigators had previously spoken of a “dangerous situation”. However, the police had already rejected rumors of a killing spree at the comprehensive school in the North Rhine-Westphalian city. It was also unclear until Thursday whether there had actually been a weapon. No information was given about the identity of those arrested.
Pupils and teachers who were still in the school premises were led out of the building by the officer. The handover of the students to their parents was complete, the police announced on Wednesday around 8:30 p.m.
