Two schools are locked down as armed police hunt knifeman after boy is taken to hospital with injuries

Five schools are locked down as armed police hunt knifeman after boy is taken to hospital with injuries

Five schools have been placed into lockdown as armed police officers hunt for a knifeman, with one boy reportedly injured during a fight.

Emergency services were called following reports of an altercation in Chalford Road, close to St Peter's High School in Tuffley, Gloucester, shortly after 8.50am on Friday morning.

A boy has reportedly been taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Officers are now searching for a man seen holding a 'long-bladed' item, who is understood to have fled from the scene.

Video emerging on social media appears to show a man dressed fully in black, with a balaclava covering most of his face, wielding a curved sword.

The man is seen being chased by another young male during the short clip.

Armed police officers are hunting a knifeman seen close to St Peter's High School in Tuffley, Gloucester, on Friday morning. Pictured: Officers outside the school

The secondary school is understood to be one of five placed into lockdown in the area following the incident

There is understood to be no ongoing threat at the school and pupils are safe within school grounds, Gloucestershire Police said in a statement.

St Peter's High School has now been placed into lockdown, alongside nearby Willow Primary Academy, Holmleigh Park and Calton Primary, according to local parents.

A nearby nursery was also initially placed into lockdown measures following the incident, but Daily Mail understands these have now been lifted.

The force said: 'It is understood that there is currently no ongoing threat at the school and pupils are safe within the school grounds, and therefore parents are asked not to attend the premises at this time.

'We will provide more information once in a position to do so.'

Councillor Pam Tracey, a member of Gloucester City Council, said: 'My first thoughts were with the boy, his family and the pupils at the school.

'It is sad this is happening in Gloucester.'

Concerned residents have also been sharing their thoughts on social media following the incident, amid reports the 'long-bladed' weapon involved was a machete.

One said: 'Actually makes me feel sick. Both my kids schools are on lockdown. I dread to think what state they'll be in when they eventually get home.'

One added: 'Anything to do with the guy with the machete wandering about?'

Another said: 'Stabbing outside St Peter's apparently someone with a machete.'

This is breaking news, more follows.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to visit Brussels next week as they resume public appearances in the wake of child sexual abuse image allegations facing Meghan's father.

Prince Harry and Meghan will deliver a joint keynote address at the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial in the European Parliament on Tuesday.

It is expected to be the first time the pair will have been seen in public since Thomas Markle Sr was reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI over a haul of suspected child abuse images.

The brief trip abroad will see Harry and Meghan listen to addresses by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola and MEP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, the first vice-chairman of the Child Rights Intergroup, before delivering their own speech.

The Sussexes will have between 15 and 20 minutes for their rare dual-address, which they will use to speak about the importance of children's digital safety.

Harry and Meghan will also be shown the memorial exhibition, which remembers children who have lost their lives as a result of the harm they suffered on social media.

The Duke will later join a panel discussion called Beyond Promises: Building A Digital Future That Works For Children to discuss how to protect children online.

Prince Harry and Mehgan arrive for a visit to Himmah Hub in Nottingham on October 15

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has said videos of alleged child sexual abuse and exploitation were among files found in four storage boxes that allegedly belonged to Mr Markle Sr, after he was reported by his son Thomas Markle Jr last month.

Major General Wilson Asueta of the PNP said it had yet to be confirmed who owned the devices, which included nine mobile phones, three memory cards, five hard drives and a camera.

The 82-year-old was reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI last month by Mr Markle Jr, who handed over a haul of alleged child abuse images he said he found in his father's belongings in Cebu City.

A second hoard was discovered last Friday in a storage unit Thomas Markle Sr is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico, during a raid by Mexican police.

Reports have since claimed Mr Markle Sr was moved into a care home for dementia patients in Florida, described as a specialist 'memory care' facility.

It has raised concerns the FBI may never be able to interview Meghan's estranged father because of the legal barriers over interrogating suspects with cognitive issues in care homes.

Meghan was left 'deeply distressed' at the allegations and revealed she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection seven years ago which made 'troubling and disturbing allegations' about her father, but that she was given assurances these were being investigated.

Harry and Meghan are set to be seen in public for the first time since her father Thomas Markle was reported to police over a haul of alleged child sexual abuse images

The Metropolitan Police has admitted it never shared the details with other law enforcement agencies, with the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, now investigating the force's conduct.

The Duchess had wanted to 'speak out' immediately after reading the letter but police advised her against this, sources said.

Meghan has been estranged from her father since the run-up to her 2018 wedding when he was caught staging paparazzi photographs and then had a heart attack, meaning the King, then-the Prince of Wales, stepped in to walk Meghan down the aisle.

When former TV lighting director Mr Markle Sr had his leg amputated in the Philippines last year, he made pleas for the duchess to contact him, saying he did not want to die while they were still estranged.

A spokesperson for the duchess confirmed at the time she had 'reached out to her father'.

Last week, it emerged Meghan wrote in this final letter that she knew he was an abuser and that he would never see his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Mr Markle Sr, who returned to the US in May, has admitted to paying for sex in the Philippines but denied ever possessing child abuse imagery.