Teenager appears in court over Crawley College incident

A teenager has appeared in court following Monday’s armed incident at Crawley College.

Sandijs Dreimanis, 18, was named by police and appeared in court on Wednesday morning.

Students and staff had to be evacuated with their hands on their heads after shots rang out at Crawley College, West Sussex. The heroics of one teacher and their colleague, who were injured tackling an armed suspect, were lauded by police and the college praised the actions of the emergency services.

Local officers were liaising with counter-terror specialists on Monday evening but later announced that the incident was not being treated as terror-related.

On Wednesday morning, Sussex police said that Dreimanis, from Crawley, had been charged with possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and possession of a bladed article on a school premises.

He later appeared at Crawley magistrates court. Dreimanis entered no pleas to the charges and the case was sent to Lewes crown court for a further hearing on 26 May.

Significant numbers of armed officers were dispatched to the incident after police received a number of calls shortly after 3.10pm reporting gunshot fire at the college.

Vicki Illingworth, the Crawley College principal, said on Tuesday: “Our college community was shaken by the actions that occurred [on Monday] afternoon.

“I cannot praise the courage, resilience and support shown by our staff enough. They have been incredible and the care and compassion they shared with our students and with each other continues to fill me with admiration.

“We can confirm two members of our staff did sustain some minor injuries, which were not gunshot wounds. Their heroic actions, and the rapid response of emergency services, helped to protect our college community.”