Media playback is unsupported on your device
A 15-year-old boy has been seriously injured in a shooting as he made his way to school.
Officers were called just after 08:40 BST to the Grange Farm estate in Kesgrave, Suffolk, where a person was later seen receiving medical treatment.
Kesgrave High School said it had been told the incident involved one of its Year 11 students. The victim, who was shot once, was flown to hospital.
Suffolk Police have arrested a teenage boy in connection with the shooting.
He is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told the House of Commons everybody was “shocked and saddened”
An Essex and Herts Air Ambulance landed on an area of grass and took off just before 10:00.
Police say they are treating the shooting “as an isolated incident” and they do “not believe there is any wider threat to the local community”.
The Suffolk force has confirmed that a cordon set up nearly five miles (8km) across Ipswich, in Westwood Avenue, is part of the investigation into the boy’s shooting.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Jones said: “Following this serious incident our priority is to keep everyone safe.
“We have now made an arrest as part of the investigation and are working with our partners in Suffolk and our schools to ensure that everyone feels safe when they are collecting their children from school this afternoon.
“There will be more police officers on patrol and to provide reassurance in the area and I would ask for anyone with information about this incident to come forward.”
Image copyright
Google
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told the House of Commons: “I think we’re all shocked and saddened to learn about the incident in which a young person was seriously hurt on their way to school in Suffolk today.
“Our thoughts are very much with the young person, their family and the whole school community at this very difficult time.”
Eyewitness Andy Watts told the BBC he was out walking his dog when he heard a “a gunshot and then I heard a great big scream”.
“It sounded like scaffolding falling down originally because it was a big, big crash,” he said. “I saw them working on the young lad over on the green; he was over there for quite a while while they were attending to him, a lot of ambulance staff and paramedics working on him.”
A police cordon in connection with the shooting has also been put in Westwood Avenue, Ipswich
Phil Bennett, 38, said his father lived near the scene in Kesgrave and heard a gunshot.
Mr Bennett said he drove to check on his parents at their home in Lyon Close after seeing vague details of the incident on Facebook and becoming concerned.
“My dad heard a gunshot,” he said. “He’s a retired paramedic – he’s heard a lot of gunshots in his time, so he stayed indoors.
“The next thing he knew there were police piling in, then it’s a scene of crime.
“It’s hard to believe this has happened 100 metres from my mum’s front door, that someone’s been shot. It’s terrible what’s going on.”
Kesgrave High, which said the pupil was on the way to school at the time of the incident, said in a statement: “Students in school are safe and we are managing the situation in constant, close communication with the police.”
It said it expected students to be dismissed at the end of the school day at 15:20 as normal.
It is understood Monday was the first day back at school for its Year 11 pupils following the coronavirus lockdown and the summer holiday.
Friends Walk and Through Jollys have been closed off and there is a partial closure in Ropes Drive. Police have urged the public to avoid these areas.