Police confirm no arrests after reports of two masked men ‘carrying knives’ tried to break into Northampton secondary school
An investigation into two masked men who were reported to be ‘carrying knives’ when they tried to break into a Northampton secondary school is ongoing with no arrests made.
On Friday afternoon (May 9) at just after 2pm, Abbeyfield School in Mereway went into an emergency lockdown following reports of a potential ‘hostage-taking’ incident.
Northamptonshire Police say they deployed firearms officers within minutes of the report coming in to them. A police helicopter was also deployed to the scene.
Footage on social media, seen by Chronicle & Echo, appeared to show multiple armed officers at the school as students watched on.
Following a search of the school, police confirmed that nobody had been taken hostage, nobody had suffered any injuries, no weapons had been recovered, and nobody had been arrested in connection with any offences.
Today (Monday, May 12), police say no arrests or charges have yet been made but the investigation into the incident continues.
A police spokeswoman said the local neighbourhood policing team is patrolling the area for reassurance.
A Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman said: “Although initial reports suggested that knives were present, no weapons were recovered or confirmed to be at the scene.
“A team of detectives from our CID continue to work at pace to establish the exact circumstances regards the incident but as stated on Friday, nobody was taken hostage, nobody suffered any injuries, and no weapons were recovered.
“Due to the initial reports from concerned parents/students, we deployed armed police who conducted a thorough search of the premises however, as stated, we were able to very quickly establish that there was no hostage situation and they were stood down.
“We’d still strongly encourage anyone with information about the incident to come forward, either directly on 101 quoting reference 298 of 09/05/2025 or anonymously via Crimestoppers.”
The spokeswoman added: “While we understand this was a deeply upsetting turn of events, we would like to reassure members of the school community and those living within the immediate vicinity of the school that police are not treating this as a terrorism-related incident.”
An Abbeyfield School spokesperson said: "On Friday, we had a brief lockdown in school as a result of a report of two intruders coming onto the school site. Northamptonshire Police were on site very quickly and shortly after arrival, they satisfied themselves that there were no longer any intruders.
"We have been liaising closely with Northamptonshire Police who are continuing their investigations. Although there are no concerns from any of our partner agencies, Northamptonshire Police are providing an ongoing presence at the start and the end of the day to provide additional reassurance for students.
"Whilst situations like this are rare, we have clear processes and practices, and our team responded with pace and professionalism. We would also like to thank Northamptonshire Police for their continued vigilance around these events and to our families for their ongoing support."
An email from headteacher Henry Gowney-Hedges immediately following the incident, shared widely on social media, reads: “The school went into lockdown at just after 2pm as a result of two unidentified individuals attempting to access the main site. Although they had got over the perimeter fence, they did not access the main school site and left the site when challenged. Once this had been confirmed, we were able to release the students from the lockdown and move them to their lessons. At this point the police response arrived and we took further advice from their team. We have thanked the police involved for their swift response. We held a short online assembly for students to reassure them of the situation and the police were happy for us to allow all students to leave site at the end of the day as usual.
"I would like to commend staff and students again for their prompt actions to keep everyone safe during the lockdown and subsequently once the lockdown had ended and the police had arrived on site. We will provide further support next week for students and look forward to seeing them on Monday.”