Police hurt in knife incident at party in school

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.

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.

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.

Elm Park Primary School declined to comment, but a statement on its website said there would be “a police presence” around the school for the next week to offer “reassurance to parents and residents after the events on Saturday evening”.

A letter posted to X from the Met’s Supt Simon Hutchison said the two people, who police believed were guests at the party, “received minor injuries” and did not require further treatment.

Supt Hutchison wrote police arrived within minutes of being called and “during the initial confrontation four of my officers were injured and 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 added some of the youths “were armed with weapons” and searches were carried out including the next morning, with a number of discarded weapons recovered.

“I want to be clear that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated,” he said, adding that the Met had been working with the council and community to “understand the reasons why this incident took place”.

“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.”

Anyone with information, photos or video relating to the incident is asked to contact police.