Knox Academy: Police arrest teenager over 'BB gun' incident after Scottish secondary school goes into lockdown

Officers attended Knox Academy in Haddington on Friday morning in response to the incident. Members of the public had earlier reported the school was in “lockdown”.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Around 9.55am on Friday, February 21, police were called to a secondary school in Haddington following a report of a youth in possession of what was believed to be a BB gun in the grounds of the school.

“A 15-year-old youth has been arrested and enquiries are continuing. There is no ongoing threat to the school nor the public."

One woman, a grandparent of two pupils at the school, said her family had been left very concerned by the lack of information in an initial email sent by the school.

“We heard reports that police were standing outside the school, so my daughter is away up there now,” she said.

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “We can confirm that police were called to Knox Academy in Haddington this morning as we had reports of a pupil in the grounds of the school with what appeared to be a BB gun.

“School staff quickly followed established procedures and the school was placed in ‘lockdown’ to ensure the safety of all pupils and staff while Police Scotland responded to the incident.

“Parents were informed via our GroupCall system that a lockdown was in place, but that pupils were safe. We were able to reassure parents shortly afterwards that the incident had been dealt with and that pupils were all safe and had been released for their morning break.”

Knox Academy was dedicated to John Knox, founder of the Church of Scotland, at the end of the 19th century. It is a non-denominational and co-educational school, with a roll of 841 in 2023.