A young woman found dead in a school in the Sydney CBD had suffered severe head injuries in an “apparent” homicide, police say.
Just minutes before midnight, emergency services were called to St Andrew’s Cathedral School on Kent Street in the CBD.
Police found the body of a woman in her 20s in the toilet area of a gymnasium at the school.
She is yet to be formally identified, but NSW Police Superintendent Martin Fileman said she was employed by the school.
He said the scene was “confronting” for the officers who found the body.
“Last night police from Sydney city police area command were responding to a welfare check and attended the school at St Andrew’s cathedral where police located the body of a female in her early 20s in the gym area of the school,” he said.
“From her injuries it was apparent she was a victim of a homicide.
“Whilst that was occurring, police also responded to a reserve in the Vaucluse area where property associated with the homicide was located.”
Investigators are seeking to speak to a man in his 20s, who was also an employee at the school.
He and the woman were known to each other, Fileman said, but there was no police history of domestic violence between them.
Police are combing the reserve and are patrolling the waters off South Head.
Fileman said police were interviewing several people, and that other staff were present in the building at that time.
The school issued a statement confirming it would remain closed today to everybody except those sitting Year 12 exams “following an onsite death overnight”.
“No students were involved and there is no ongoing threat,” a school spokesperson said.
“An area of the school, not accessible to students, is a crime zone, and we await the approval of police before bringing everyone back on site.”
School counsellors have been called in to offer support for parents and students.
“The only students onsite are those sitting exams, and we ask that the media does not seek to interrupt their concentration or state of mind as they sit exams that are significant for their graduation,” the spokesperson said.
They said the school would not make any further comment.
One of Sydney’s oldest schools, St Andrew’s has fees ranging from $22,000 for kindergarten to $38,000 for Year 12.
Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.
