Elisabeth-Selbert School in Bad Godesberg Police arrest student following active threat alarm at school
Bad Godesberg · A large number of police responded to an emergency school alert at the “Elisabeth Selbert Gesamt Schule” in Bad Godesberg on Thursday. There were indications of an imminent threat. One student was arrested.
Police officers wearing protective helmets, bulletproof vests and armed with submachine guns were at the ready, standing at a rear entrance of the Elisabeth Selbert Gesamt (Comprehensive) School in Plittersdorf. They were keeping a close eye on their surroundings, and a little further on there were more police officers securing the area. Again and again, the sound of sirens could be heard, with more police officers coming to the school, including several officers of a special task force from Cologne.
Early Thursday afternoon, Bonn police responded to a call at the school on Hindenburgallee, where there were indications of an imminent threat. At the windows, some teachers could be seen looking outside. In front of the entrance to the school, the police command took up their position, evaluating maps of the location. Concerned students and parents stood in front of the school. More and more parents arrived, wanting to know what was going on with their children - many students used cell phones to inform parents of a threat situation and that they were supposed to hide. "You don't have to be afraid honey, there's a lot of police there, they're keeping their eye on the situation," a mother tells her child on the phone. They used their cell phones to stay in touch. Meanwhile, police officers led more and more students out of the large building, one class at a time.
Indication of an armed student leads to active threat alarm
What students and parents did not know at the time was that there was no threat at the school - thank goodness. As Robert Scholten, spokesman for the Bonn police, shared at the scene, there were indications that a student might have made his way into the school armed with a knife. "The teenager was initially at the school. A stressful situation occurred there, and then the student went home. But there was probably another similar situation there as well," Scholten said.
"The coordination with the school worked well," Scholten said. The officers surrounded the school and searched it. "We couldn't approach very discreetly, but we did the best we could," Scholten said.
"The teenager was overpowered and arrested by special forces on the street near his home," Scholten continued. No knife was found on him, he said, and one was only found later during a search of the surrounding area.
During the police operation at the school, a man was arrested in the school and led outside. It was a father who wanted to see his child - he was released following a heated conversation. Like him, many parents were worried about their children.
Parents and children kept in touch with their mobile phones
One mother told the GA that her son had called her shortly after the alarm and told her about the police operation. She then rushed directly to the school and kept receiving short text messages from her son. "We were at recess when we heard an announcement, telling us to go to the classrooms and hide. We thought it was a rehearsal at first, but it was serious," the student said.
Some of the sixth-grader's classmates cried, but they were relieved when they were allowed to leave the class and go to their parents. Two other students, both eleven years old, confirmed the sequence of events described by their classmate. After they hid, a teacher locked the classroom door, they said.
At around 2:45 p.m., the police ended the operation and opened the school. There were no injuries. An ambulance was called to the scene as a precaution because one person complained of feeling unwell. The police are still investigating the 16-year-old student.
Orig. text: Maximilian Mühlens and Axel Vogel. Translation: ck
