Police cleared a school complex in Gelsenkirchen after an anonymous threat on Wednesday. Numerous emergency services were on site until the early afternoon, reported a police spokesman. It was initially unclear who was behind the threat. “We don’t know who the perpetrators are.”
The police took the threat seriously and therefore carried out the evacuation of the comprehensive school and the primary school with a larger contingent. A few hours after the start of the operation, it was said: “Security has been restored.” School operations can start again on Thursday. If necessary, there will be an offer of care.
“The safety of the students and teachers is our top priority,” the spokesman said. Therefore, everyone should have left the complex. Nobody was harmed. The police could not say exactly how many people were affected by the eviction. Everything went “orderly and very quietly”, the security concept “fully worked”.
Police: No amok situation
Several media reported about an amok threat. The police, however, spoke of an anonymous threat. At no time was there an amok situation, said the police spokesman. At the very beginning of the operation, however, the schoolchildren and teachers and probably also the local police officers used “the term amok”. However, the police assessment of the situation is clear: they assume an anonymous threat and a temporary threat that could be resolved after a few hours.
The background of the incident was still open. “We are trying to get hold of the person who made this threat public,” said the police spokesman. It could also be multiple people. “All of this will be the subject of the investigation.” It was not announced whether suspects were also suspected in the environment of the student body. The threat appeared on social media – when and where exactly is being investigated. For the police, the operation began in the morning.
The head of the comprehensive school said “radio emscher lippe” that the upcoming final exams had been written undisturbed. The test specimens were located in a part of the building about two kilometers away. Parents of elementary school students should pick up their children at a designated spot.
