Armed officers reached Out Risbygate in 10 minutes after a handgun was reported pointed at a bus driver. Two boys, 16 and 17, are on bail until 5 November.
Armed police were called to Out Risbygate in Bury St Edmunds at 4.20pm on Friday 11 September, after a report that a handgun had been pointed at a bus driver. Two teenage boys were arrested. The weapon found at the scene was an imitation.
Suffolk Constabulary published the account three days later, at 13:40 on Monday 14 September. These are the facts the force has put on the record (Suffolk Constabulary):
- Police were called at 4.20pm on Friday 11 September to reports that a handgun had been pointed at a bus driver in Out Risbygate.
- Armed officers arrived within 10 minutes, and two teenage boys were arrested a short time later.
- An imitation firearm was located and seized.
- The two suspects, aged 17 and 16, were taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre for questioning.
- Both were released on bail until Thursday 5 November pending further enquiries.
Inspector Ben Hollands, of the Bury St Edmunds Community Policing Team, said: “We appreciate this incident will have caused alarm and distress to the victim and a number of other people and I am grateful to the officers who attended for resolving it swiftly and safely.”
He added: “There will be a police presence in the area today to provide additional reassurance and anyone with any concerns is encouraged to speak to the officers.”
Nobody has been charged. Under our own standards we do not name people who have been arrested and not charged, and neither boy is of an age we would name in any case. Being released on bail means the investigation is open, not concluded, and the 5 November date is the point at which the two are required to answer that bail.
Where this was
Out Risbygate is a main road on the west side of Bury St Edmunds, and it sits inside the police neighbourhood Suffolk Constabulary calls Bury St Edmunds Town North (police.uk). In ward terms it is Minden, one of the eight West Suffolk wards that cover the town (Postcodes.io, using the Ordnance Survey and ONS boundary data).
How often weapons offences are recorded here
We ran the Home Office street-level crime data for that exact neighbourhood boundary rather than a rough circle on a map, which is the only way to get a figure that matches the area the police themselves patrol.
In the twelve months to July 2026, the latest month published, police recorded 44 possession of weapons offences in the Bury St Edmunds Town North neighbourhood, out of 1,904 crimes of all kinds. That is one offence in every 43. The monthly count never went above seven, in October 2025, and dropped as low as one, in January 2026 (police.uk open data, Open Government Licence).
Two things are worth holding on to when reading those figures. The category counts the offence of having the weapon, not every incident in which one is mentioned, and street-level data is placed at the nearest street or landmark rather than an exact address. The 11 September incident falls in September, so it is not in the figures above; police.uk was last updated to July 2026 when we checked.
What it means for you
If you were on Out Risbygate on the afternoon of Friday 11 September and have not already spoken to an officer, the force wants to hear from you. Suffolk Constabulary asks witnesses to contact West CID at Bury St Edmunds Police Station, quoting reference 37/53907/26, either through its online reporting form or by calling 101.
Anything still in progress goes to 999. Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is a charity independent of the police and does not take your name.
For the town as a whole, the crime map on police.uk lets you type a postcode and see every recorded offence street by street, along with the contact details for the Bury St Edmunds neighbourhood team and the dates of their next public meetings. Our own Bury St Edmunds roadworks and travel page tracks the closures and diversions affecting routes through the town.
We will report the outcome when there is one on the record. An arrest is not a charge, and a charge is not a conviction.
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