A teenage boy has been arrested after a “threat of violence” was reportedly made against a school in east London, forcing a nursery to close.
South Yorkshire police said the boy, 17, had been detained on suspicion of malicious communications on Monday. He remains in police custody.
St Mary’s School in Walthamstow closed its doors on Monday morning to ensure teachers and staff remained safe after receiving a threat via email.
In an email sent to parents shortly after 7.30am, which has been seen by the Standard, St Mary’s explained it had received the threat, saying it referred to “committing acts of violence to those on our premises” along with several other schools.
The school said: “We are working closely with the police and following their advice and guidance to ensure the safety of our children and staff.”
It added: “We have currently closed the nursery this morning and we will provide further updates as we receive them.”
The primary school added that the safety of its children and staff was its “top priority”.
In a statement earlier on Monday, the Met Police said it was also investigating threats against a school on Brooke Road, Walthamstow, but added they were not being treated as credible “at this stage”.
The busy primary school, which has the capacity for 630 pupils, is understood to be closed for the Easter holidays, but the nursery, which operates on the same site, was due to welcome children on Monday morning.
St Mary’s Nursery has space for over 100 children, according to its latest Ofsted inspection.
🚨Walthamstow I know that parents are sharing the understandably concerning email about St Marys school they have received this morning. I am in touch with the police and want to give this update at present to help clarify what is happening and what is not.
— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) April 14, 2025
I can confirm 1/4
In an update on X, Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy wrote: “Walthamstow I know that parents are sharing the understandably concerning email about St Mary's school they have received this morning. I am in touch with the police and want to give this update at present to help clarify what is happening and what is not.
“I can confirm that the school has received a threat that is being taken seriously. This threat has also been received by other schools outside London. This is the only school in Walthamstow to received this and the police are on the site to actively investigate.
“For those parents organising childcare it is reasonable to assume that the school nursery will be closed for at least this morning whilst investigations take place.I recognise this is shocking - for someone to threaten a school - and as soon as I have further information I will share.”
In a further update, the MP explained that the threat has been made primarily to schools in the South Yorkshire area.
She added that no other schools outside of South Yorkshire had been affected except St Mary’s school.
Ms Creasy added: “There is nothing to suggest in either the threat made or the schools involved any faith connection to this incident.
“The school have made arrangements to support the children attending the nursery offsite, so if your child is one of those, please do contact them for further details. The police are working with the school and with their colleagues in South Yorkshire to apprehend the perpetrator.
“Again I know this is a shocking incident that anyone would threaten a primary school, so I am monitoring the situation closely.”
A Met Police spokesperson said: “At around 06:30hrs on Monday, 14 April, police received reports of email threats being made towards a school on Brooke Road, Walthamstow.
“The nursery has chosen to relocate as a precautionary measure, although no pupils were attending the school today due to the Easter holidays.
“An investigation is ongoing, however at this stage the threats are not being treated as credible.
“We are working alongside South Yorkshire Police, as at this stage this is believed to be linked to threats made to schools in the Sheffield area.”
A spokesperson for South Yorkshire police said: “At 6.38am today (Monday 14 April) we received a report that a male sent an email to nine schools across Sheffield in which he threatened he would cause harm and was in possession of a firearm.
“We understand that this will be concerning for parents, pupils and staff in our community and reassure you that immediately following the reports officers worked at pace and have found no evidence to suggest the threat is genuine.
“Our investigation remains on-going and neighbourhood policing patrols are taking place today at the locations mentioned in the email as a further precaution, and to provide reassurance to residents.
“Our officers are there to help, please speak to them if you have concerns.”
