TERROR came to the streets of Calne on Monday November 12 when a masked gunman in a black balaclava stalked the town, holding up cars and pointing his weapon at police.

The gunman passed just yards from Holy Trinity Primary School, in a scene chillingly reminiscent of Michael Ryan's Hungerford massacre.

Police officer Sgt Glynn Ashforth received a call at 11.05am that a man wearing a balaclava had been seen in Church Street.

By the time he reached London Road police had been deluged with calls from people who had seen the gunman making his way through the town.

A parent called Holy Trinity School to warn teachers an armed man was walking through the town.

Police advised them to keep all the children safely in their classrooms.

The blinds were pulled down at the front of the building and the doors were immediately locked.

As Sgt Ashforth drove down London Road he found traffic stationary near the cemetery.

A passer-by told him a man with a gun was aiming it at people further down the road.

"There was a small bus ahead and I was worried he had got on the bus," said Sgt Ashforth.

"But I looked through the glass and I couldn't see anybody standing up. So I went round to the front of the bus."

"We were close to the primary school and I was worried the gunman might head for it.

"Then I saw he was about 30 yards from me. I could see a male about 5ft 10ins, wearing a balaclava. "

He said the balaclava was large and black with tiny slits for eyes so none of the gunman's face could be seen.

Sgt Ashforth, who previously served in the firearms unit for 14 years, and was a member of the tactical firearms unit as well as a firearms instructor, said: "It was the most scared I've ever been I thought I was going to die.

"I thought he was going to shoot me. I was also concerned because there was the school nearby. I thought it might be the Michael Ryan scenario again.

"He looked disturbed rocking and holding the gun across his body, like he was going through some mental disturbance.

"Then he lifted his gun to his right shoulder and pointed it at me. I thought I was going to die."

The gunman then lowered the gun and continued to walk along the London Road out of Calne.

When a white van and a car approached the gunman stood in the middle of the road and stopped them, pointed the gun at the drivers.

Then he walked past the vehicles on the nearside, shouting.

Sgt Ashforth called for support from firearms officers and the police helicopter.

The gunman walked on to the junction with Stockley Lane and sat down on a high verge.

Sgt Ashforth was joined by DC Tim Titchener, who had been trying to stop traffic coming along London Road.

Using the police car for cover they began to talk to the gunman.

"He had the gun across his lap and he was still rocking," said Sgt Ashforth.

"We explained who we were and said he would come to no harm and that he could talk to us."

But the gunman pointed the gun at his own face and for a moment the police officers thought he intended to shoot himself.

Then he put the gun down. The officers had been speaking to him for only two or three minutes.

"We told him to walk towards us with his hands up.

"He took a pair of scissors out of the back of his trousers and then he lay down on the ground and we arrested him."

He was handcuffed at 11.28am and placed in the back of the police car.

When the balaclava was removed Sgt Ashforth saw the gunman was a young teenager.

Staff at Holy Trinity responded calmly when they heard a gunman had been seen near the school.

Headteacher Janis McBride said each teacher was quietly told of the situation outside the classroom.

"None of the children knew what was happening and we were advised not to move them from their classes,"she said.

The blinds were pulled down at the front of the building and the doors were locked.

A resident said: "I saw this man with a shotgun, it looked like a double-barrelled shotgun.

"He was shouting and screaming and tried to stop a white van.

"It was really surreal and not the sort of thing you would ever expect to see in Calne.

l A 14-year-old boy was interviewed by police at Chippenham Police Station on Monday evening, before being released on police bail.

An air rifle is undergoing tests to calculate its power.