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A former pupil accused of stabbing two boys during a knife attack at a school in north London was arrested after he was seen inside a mosque.
The schoolchildren, aged 12 and 13, remain in hospital after the attack at Kingsbury High School in Brent which unfolded at lunchtime on Tuesday.
The 13-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder later that day.
The teenager, who is a British national, arrived at the school armed with a knife at at around 12.30pm.
He went up to a first floor classroom and sprayed a substance towards a pupil, who was not injured.
The suspect then stabbed a 13-year-old boy in the classroom, before running along a hallway and down a flight of stairs.
He then stabbed a 12-year-old boy on the ground floor, before fleeing the school.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Detective Chief Superintendent Helen Flanagan, of Counter Terrorism Policing London said: 'Armed police attended the school and a manhunt was immediately stood up to try and locate and detain the suspect as quickly as possible.
Police are pictured at the scene of the stabbing in Brent, north London, yesterday
While urgent enquiries were being made to try and locate the suspect, police were called by a member of the public at approximately 16:15hrs over concerns of a child who had been seen at a mosque in NW10.
'Officers attended shortly after and arrested the 13-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder and he remains in custody.
'I must add at this point that we do not believe the suspect has any particular connection to the mosque.'
Both victims were taken to hospital with serious injuries and are now in a stable condition.
The boy who was sprayed with a substance that the police said is not noxious is being given support.
It has not been declared a terrorist incident and police are exploring different potential motivations.
The suspect remains in custody and police are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.
Shocked students took to social media last night to reveal how the stabbings took place in a science classroom.
The attack unfolded at Kingsbury High School on Bacon Lane in Brent
Pictured: Emergency services at the scene of the stabbing at Kingsbury High School
One girl revealed on TikTok: 'I saw this happen, blood all over the floor wondering 'is that paint?' and then seeing a boy with blood all over his neck covering it with his hands.
'I thought maybe fake blood or just a science or art project until the fire alarm rang and then I knew oh we are cooked.'
Another said: 'It was so bad there was screaming, crying and a lot of blood and the ppl (sic) who saw the whole thing happen were terrified and it was in the middle of lunch too.
'The whole school was standing outside for three hours with no coats, no nothing. It was so cold and yeah I'm never forgetting this ever.'
He said: 'The attacker came in with his old KHS uniform and didn't get suspected by teachers .
'He went after the 13-year-old because long ago they fought and the youth with the knife got expelled. He came back to this school and found the boy he'd fought with and pepper sprayed the teacher and stabbed the boy, in the stomach I think.
'Then some person in Year 7, who was 12 yrs old, was walking by the class and he saw what happened and ran and pulled the fire alarm.'
The 32-year-old brother of a girl who attends the school said his sister was in a nearby classroom when the attack took place.
Pictured: Tuesday evening's Met Police press conference
Photos from the scene showed a number of emergency vehicles swarming around the school in the aftermath of the incident.
The site was on lockdown earlier on Tuesday, with no one able to enter or leave the grounds.
Kingsbury High School is an academy school serving children aged 11 to 18, with both upper and lower sites.
According to the latest Department for Education information, it has 1,997 pupils.
It traces its origins to Kingsbury County School, which opened in 1925 in a building which had been the office of the former Aircraft Manufacturing Company. It moved premises in 1932.
Alumni include Wham's George Michael, jazz musician Courtney Pine, Floyd Steadman, the first black captain of the Saracens rugby team, and writer Ekow Eshun.
The London Ambulance Service said they were called at 12.41pm to reports of a stabbing on Bacon Lane.
They added: 'We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, incident response officers, an advanced paramedic, a paramedic from our tactical response unit and a clinical team manager.
'We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London's Air Ambulance.
'We treated two patients in total. We took one patient to hospital and the other as a priority to a major trauma centre.'
The schoolchildren, aged 12 and 13, remain in hospital after the attack at Kingsbury High School in Brent which unfolded at lunchtime on Tuesday.
The 13-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder later that day.
The teenager, who is a British national, arrived at the school armed with a knife at at around 12.30pm.
He went up to a first floor classroom and sprayed a substance towards a pupil, who was not injured.
The suspect then stabbed a 13-year-old boy in the classroom, before running along a hallway and down a flight of stairs.
He then stabbed a 12-year-old boy on the ground floor, before fleeing the school.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Detective Chief Superintendent Helen Flanagan, of Counter Terrorism Policing London said: 'Armed police attended the school and a manhunt was immediately stood up to try and locate and detain the suspect as quickly as possible.
Police are pictured at the scene of the stabbing in Brent, north London, yesterday
While urgent enquiries were being made to try and locate the suspect, police were called by a member of the public at approximately 16:15hrs over concerns of a child who had been seen at a mosque in NW10.
'Officers attended shortly after and arrested the 13-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder and he remains in custody.
'I must add at this point that we do not believe the suspect has any particular connection to the mosque.'
Both victims were taken to hospital with serious injuries and are now in a stable condition.
The boy who was sprayed with a substance that the police said is not noxious is being given support.
It has not been declared a terrorist incident and police are exploring different potential motivations.
The suspect remains in custody and police are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.
Shocked students took to social media last night to reveal how the stabbings took place in a science classroom.
The attack unfolded at Kingsbury High School on Bacon Lane in Brent
Pictured: Emergency services at the scene of the stabbing at Kingsbury High School
One girl revealed on TikTok: 'I saw this happen, blood all over the floor wondering 'is that paint?' and then seeing a boy with blood all over his neck covering it with his hands.
'I thought maybe fake blood or just a science or art project until the fire alarm rang and then I knew oh we are cooked.'
Another said: 'It was so bad there was screaming, crying and a lot of blood and the ppl (sic) who saw the whole thing happen were terrified and it was in the middle of lunch too.
'The whole school was standing outside for three hours with no coats, no nothing. It was so cold and yeah I'm never forgetting this ever.'
He said: 'The attacker came in with his old KHS uniform and didn't get suspected by teachers .
'He went after the 13-year-old because long ago they fought and the youth with the knife got expelled. He came back to this school and found the boy he'd fought with and pepper sprayed the teacher and stabbed the boy, in the stomach I think.
'Then some person in Year 7, who was 12 yrs old, was walking by the class and he saw what happened and ran and pulled the fire alarm.'
The 32-year-old brother of a girl who attends the school said his sister was in a nearby classroom when the attack took place.
Pictured: Tuesday evening's Met Police press conference
Photos from the scene showed a number of emergency vehicles swarming around the school in the aftermath of the incident.
The site was on lockdown earlier on Tuesday, with no one able to enter or leave the grounds.
Kingsbury High School is an academy school serving children aged 11 to 18, with both upper and lower sites.
According to the latest Department for Education information, it has 1,997 pupils.
It traces its origins to Kingsbury County School, which opened in 1925 in a building which had been the office of the former Aircraft Manufacturing Company. It moved premises in 1932.
Alumni include Wham's George Michael, jazz musician Courtney Pine, Floyd Steadman, the first black captain of the Saracens rugby team, and writer Ekow Eshun.
The London Ambulance Service said they were called at 12.41pm to reports of a stabbing on Bacon Lane.
They added: 'We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, incident response officers, an advanced paramedic, a paramedic from our tactical response unit and a clinical team manager.
'We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London's Air Ambulance.
'We treated two patients in total. We took one patient to hospital and the other as a priority to a major trauma centre.'
