No one was hurt and the lockdown at John Ruskin College on Selsdon Park Road has been lifted. Police are still looking for a teenager seen with a blade.
Police are looking for a teenager after a report that someone had been seen with a bladed weapon at a college on Selsdon Park Road on Wednesday evening, 30 September.
No one was injured. The college was put on lockdown while officers made enquiries, and the lockdown has since been lifted. No arrests have been made.
What the police said
The Metropolitan Police has not posted the statement on its own news site. It gave the following statement to the media, carried word for word by London Now and by the Mirror:
“Around 17:08hrs, officers attended a college in Selsdon Park Road, Croydon, following reports that a person had been seen with a bladed weapon. Police attended, but, by the time they arrived, the suspect had left the scene. No arrests have been made, and officers are seeking to locate the suspect, who is believed to be a teenager. No injuries were reported, and the college was temporarily placed on lockdown while officers made enquiries. This has now been lifted.”
The college on Selsdon Park Road is John Ruskin College, a further education college in Forestdale. The Quest Academy, a secondary school nearby, also kept pupils inside. A spokesperson for the academy said in the same reports: “Pupils were allowed to leave as soon as the school was given the all-clear.”
Reports on social media described the weapon as a machete. The police statement says only “a bladed weapon”, and we have not repeated anything the force has not confirmed.
What the figures say about the area
Weapons offences are rare around the college. We checked the Met’s own street-level records on police.uk for the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, within one mile of the college:
| What was recorded | Within a mile, 12 months |
|---|---|
| Possession of weapons | 13 |
| Robbery | 25 |
| All recorded crime | 1,301 |
That is about one weapons offence a month across the whole area, with no month above three. The highest months were November 2025 and July 2026, with three each. August 2026 is the latest month published, so Wednesday’s report will not appear in these figures until the end of October.
What it means for you
- The lockdown is over. The police say it was lifted on Wednesday evening, and the Quest Academy says pupils went home once it was given the all-clear.
- The suspect has not been found. If you saw anything around Selsdon Park Road on Wednesday evening, call the police on 101 or report it online.
- To stay anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
- If you see someone with a weapon, call 999.
Parents with questions about how either school handled the lockdown should contact the school directly. Term dates for both are on our Croydon school term dates page.
We will update this page if the Met makes an arrest or issues anything further.
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