Parents association head says school shooting prevented in Kokkinotrimithia

A school shooting at Kokkinotrimithia lower secondary school was prevented in November, MPs heard on Tuesday at parliament’s ad hoc committee on demographics and migration.

The allegations were presented by head of the school’s parents’ association Polys Polykarpou as residents gave statements to the committee of the problems faced by the community, home to the Pournara reception centre.

Polykarpou said that a minor had threatened to carry out a school shooting but that classmates reported the incident to officials at the school, who subsequently informed the police.

Police investigations uncovered a map of the school in the student’s possession, but no gun has been found.

Polykarpou made statements to reporters after the committee meeting, saying that: “We’ve reached the point that things we saw on the TV or in other nations such as the US, and said that it will never happen here, we’ve now had to prevent them… and yes, at Kokkinotrimithia lower high school a school shooting was prevented.”

He stated that a student had expressed his intention to carry out the attack but “thankfully other students reported the incident”.

He confirmed to reporters that the student who made the threats was a foreign national.

Local media reported that following the incident the student was removed from the school.

The committee is chaired by Elam MP Linos Papayiannis and heard complaints from other Kokkinotrimithia residents who claim that crime is on the rise, which they say is linked to foreign nationals.

Demographics had been a subcommittee of the House labour committee and was ‘upgraded’ to ad hoc and given to Elam.

The decision to grant Elam the chair on demographics prompted criticism at the time, because the party is openly anti migration.

Politicians have also claimed that there is increasing rates of crime linked to a rise in asylum seekers and irregular migration, which threatens public safety.