Farnworth schools in lockdown as man arrested with air rifle

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, on Beech Avenue, sent a text out to parents at 9.29am to inform them that local schools had been placed in lockdown.

The message read: “Due to a police incident all local schools are locked down, we will keep you informed of the situation. 

“Everyone is safe and we will stay in touch.”

But just a minute later, at 9.30am, a second text was sent out telling parents that the incident had been resolved and the school was no longer in lockdown.

It read: “Police incident is resolved and school is no longer in lockdown. Sorry for any upset.”

It added that an arrest had been made.

St James CE Primary School, on nearby Hillside Avenue, also let parents know the incident was over in a post to Facebook.

It stated: “There was an incident nearby and we did an invacuation as a precautionary measure. We have been informed by the police that the incident has now been resolved.”

An invacuation is an emergency procedure used to quickly move students and staff from outside to inside, or to keep them inside.

One parent said: “My son’s school was on lockdown this morning.”

She added that St James’ CE Primary School dealt with the situation ‘amazingly’.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed that they had arrested a man with “some sort of air rifle” who appeared to be shooting rats in the area.

They said schools in the area were notified and may have locked down out of precaution due to the police nearby.