Teenage boy arrested after 15-year-old pupil shot near Suffolk school

7 September 2020, 11:10 | Updated: 7 September 2020, 17:19

Teenager arrested after 15-year-old boy shot near Suffolk high school

A teenager has been arrested after a 15-year-old pupil was shot as he made his way to school in Suffolk.

Police declared a serious incident after the shooting in Kesgrave, near Ipswich.

Officers were called just after 8:40am on Monday to reports of a shooting in Friends Walk, near Kesgrave High School.

A teenage boy has been taken into police custody for questioning. The victim suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital by air ambulance.

Suffolk Police said the 15-year-old boy who was shot this morning is in a critical condition in hospital.

Kesgrave High School said a Year 11 pupil had been in a "serious incident" on their way to school.

The school added that the shooting is being treated as an "isolated incident by the police" and that there is not believed to be a wider threat to the school or the local community - which Suffolk Police assistant chief constable Rob Jones later confirmed.

In a statement on Twitter, the school said: "We have made aware by the police that there has been a serious incident involving one of our Year 11 students, on their way to school. Students in school are safe and we are managing the situation in constant, close communication with the police.

"Students are to remain in school and will be kept safe in liaison with the police. Police will be present in the area and around the school throughout the school day. At the present time we are expecting students to be dismissed at the end of the school day, 3.20, as normal."

The victim's family are being supported by the police.

Suffolk Police said in a statement: "Officers were called just after 8.40am this morning, Monday 7 September, to reports of a shooting in Grange Farm.

"Friends Walk and Through Jollys are completely closed off at present and there is a partial closure on Ropes Drive.

"Members of the public are asked to avoid these areas."

The owner of an animal shelter in Kesgrave said a man believed to be the suspect in the shooting had been hiding in his back garden, but escaped before armed police officers arrived.

The resident, who asked not to be named, told the PA news agency the man appeared to be in his mid-20s and "looked like he hadn't had a haircut for a while".

"I got woken up because my dogs were going absolutely ballistic at the back of the house.

Kesgrave resident shocked about age involved in shooting

"When I went to the back window to have a look there was a gentleman who looked like he was carrying something, at first I thought it was a bat or pole or something, and he went down behind my exotic animal enclosures.

He added that the man had a hooded top over his arm concealing whatever he was carrying.

"I've got no neighbours directly and I've got a woodland at the side... I didn't see where he went."