Two Melbourne schools placed into lockdown after man with backpack allegedly sparks bomb scare
Two schools were placed into lockdown after a man with a backpack allegedly sparked a bomb scare in a Melbourne suburb.
A man has been arrested following an alleged bomb scare in Melbourne’s southeast, which forced two schools into lockdown.
In a statement, Victoria Police said officers were called to the premises - understood to be St Mary’s Primary School - on Dandenong Rd in St Kilda East about 2.45pm on Wednesday, following reports of a man with a backpack making threats.
The Bomb Response Unit was also deployed and assessed the man’s backpack.
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“No suspicious devices (were) located,” a police spokesman said.
The primary school and nearby secondary school St Mary’s Catholic College were both placed into lockdown in response.
The man, 45, was arrested on the nearby Westbury St.
He remains in custody and is expected to be interviewed.
Victoria Police do not believe the incident is religiously or ideologically motivated.
Investigations are ongoing.
In a statement to 9 News, St Mary’s Primary School said “appropriate precautions” were put in place in the afternoon while the man was detained by police.
“Students continued their lessons and were dismissed at the usual time of 3.30pm,” a spokesperson told the broadcaster.
“The alleged offender did not enter the grounds of the primary school.”
Originally published as Two Melbourne schools placed into lockdown after man with backpack allegedly sparks bomb scare
