Update on incident near school in Tamworth

We’re continuing to progress our lines of enquiry following a report of a man with a knife near a school in Tamworth.

At 6pm yesterday (Wednesday 10 September), we received a 999 call saying that a man was seen with a knife on Comberford Road and reportedly threatened a child. The man began to walk towards the child, who carried on walking away, and the suspect stopped. He turned around and left the area.

He was described as white, over 50 and was wearing a navy baseball cap, a grey hoodie with a grey gillet and blue jeans.

Officers flooded the area and carried out an extensive search for the suspect. No one was found.

A nearby school went into lockdown as a precautionary measure while officers responded to the report.

Inspector Rachel Darby, from the Tamworth local policing team, said: “We know that speculation has been growing rapidly about this incident in the local community, particularly on social media.

“I can assure everyone that officers are carrying out a number of enquiries to find out more about what happened, but we’d like to reiterate, no one was arrested or put in the back of a police car, despite inaccurate claims that suggest otherwise online.  

“Neighbourhood officers are working closely with Rawlett Sports Centre to provide reassurance and to speak to any witnesses. So far, we have only received one report – which was the 999 call that we responded to promptly yesterday. We’ve seen lots of people posting comments online saying they witnessed what happened, and we’re urging those to come forward and speak to us so we can progress our investigation.

“Officers have been back in the school today, speaking to pupils, teachers and parents to find out more and to provide reassurance that we’re actively investigating this incident and carrying out extra patrols in the area.”

Anyone with any information that can help with our investigation are asked to get in touch. Call 101 or use Live Chat on our website, quoting incident 591 of 10 September.

To report anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.