Overview
- New College Swindon’s Queens Drive campus, which locked down Friday after a report of a male with a knife, reopened around midday when police gave the all-clear.
- Armed response units attended with around eight police vehicles, and a drone unit was seen over the site as officers secured and searched the campus.
- Wiltshire Police detained two males during the response, carried out searches, and found no weapon before beginning to leave the area about an hour after arriving.
- Students and staff were told to stay in place and out of sight during the lockdown, and the college later offered on-site and online wellbeing support.
- Enquiries continue into what prompted the report, and the Swindon Advertiser cited an unconfirmed email suggesting a music student’s drumsticks were mistaken for a knife.