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Police hurt in knife incident at primary school

BBC At the entrance to the school, a white wall with silver lettering spells out 'Elm Park Primary School' next to a round purple and yellow logo featuring children holding hands in a circle. A row of wood fencing leads towards a modern grey panelled building with another silver sign for the schoolBBC
Officers were called to a party at Elm Park Primary School on Saturday after a fight broke out

Four police officers have been hurt in an incident involving knives at a school, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Officers were called to a party at Elm Park Primary School in Hornchurch, east London at about 21:00 GMT on Saturday after a fight reportedly broke out.

The Met said three teenagers - a 14-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl - were arrested at the scene on suspicion of assault on an emergency services worker and have since been bailed.

The force added two boys aged 15 and 17 were arrested in Hornchurch the following day on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and have been bailed.

Crowds dispersed after knife incident at a school

CCTV evidence is being reviewed as part of the investigation, the Met added.

Footage posted on social media appears to show groups of teenagers screaming and running away from a smaller group gathered in the corner of a hall at the school.

Other clips show groups of young people shouting in the road outside the school.

The Met said officers "engaged with a number of teenagers at the event who became aggressive toward them".

It added four officers were treated at the scene by London Ambulance Service medics, but did not require hospital treatment.

A 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man were taken to hospital with suspected knife wounds but their injuries were deemed neither life changing nor life-threatening, the police added in a statement.

Officers 'heavily outnumbered'

Victoria Morris, executive headteacher at the school, said the people involved were not known to the school, and added they have been letting the premises to the local community for years and "stringent protocols" were in place.

She said they were "shocked" to hear of the disturbance at a private birthday party in the hall and have decided to stop renting the facility for evening events.

A statement on the school's website said there would be a police presence around the school for the next week to offer reassurance to parents and residents.

'It was disgraceful'

Jake Springford, who saw the aftermath of the event unfold on the road outside the school, said he heard a lot of noise at about 21:00 and looked out his window to see "60, 70 plus teenagers all congregated".

"Suddenly I just heard a load of screams, people screaming about fights, people running down the street," he said.

He said it appeared that some people in the group were "drinking, doing nitrous oxide balloons".

Jake Springford, a young man with short dark hair and a beard, wearing a light green T-shirt
"I know the school has to rent out the space to try and get some extra money, but it's a primary school," Jake Springford said

"It wasn't until the fight started and you heard the screaming, people shouting about being stabbed, that it just escalated from there.

"The first lot of police did a sort of drive through to try and disperse, some were chasing them down the road," he added, before he saw people getting arrested.

Mr Springford continued by saying he thought the incident was "disgraceful".

"I know the school has to rent out the space to try and get some extra money, but it's a primary school - they're renting it out for parties, parties with alcohol, parties until 11 o'clock at night," he said.

"It shouldn't be happening here at all."

A letter posted to X from the Met's Supt Simon Hutchison said two people, believed to be guests at the party, "received minor injuries" and did not require further treatment.

Metropolitan Police A portion of a headed letter from the Met's Sup Simon Hutchison reading: "We know many of you are horrified by the video footage on social media of a party at Elm Park Primary school on Saturday night where a gang of youths intruded. Some of the youths were armed with weapons, and a number of these weapons have been recovered."Metropolitan Police
The letter from the Met's Supt Simon Hutchison said Met officers were "heavily outnumbered" when they arrived at the event

Supt Hutchison wrote police arrived within "minutes" of being called, and during the initial confrontation four officers were injured "yet were still able to prevent this incident becoming significantly more serious.

"They showed tremendous bravery confronting this group despite the numbers and level of potential violence. I am proud of the courage that each of those officers showed."

He said searches were carried out and a number of discarded weapons were discovered.

'Contingency plans'

"I want to be clear that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.

"We would ask the public not to speculate on social media as this can increase tensions in the community," he added.

"At this stage we have no intelligence to suggest that any similar incidents are expected to take place.

"That said, we have contingencies, should we need to respond to any further disorder."

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