By DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

Published: 02:04 EST, 18 February 2026 | Updated: 02:30 EST, 18 February 2026

Inflation fell to 3 per cent in January in a rate piece of good news for Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

The rate of Consumer Prices Index(CIP) inflation dropped from 3.4 per cent in December, according to the Office for National Statistics.

It is the lowest rate since March and will reinforce expectations of another interest rate cut, possibly as soon as next month.

Disappointing growth figures for the final quarter of last year have added to forecasts for a rate cut in March, to 3.5 per cent from 3.75 per cent currently.

The fall was driven by falls in the price of petrol, food and clothing last month.

But inflation remains above the government’s target of 2 per cent.  Sir Mel Stride, the Conservative shadow chancellor, said: ‘Families are still feeling the pinch because of Labour’s economic mismanagement.

‘This comes after the Office for National Statistics confirmed unemployment has risen to a five-year high, with youth unemployment now above the European average, and GDP per capita falling.

Ms Reeves said: ‘Cutting the cost of living is my number one priority.

The reading was in line with the predictions of economists and puts inflation back on a downward trajectory after an increase in the previous month.

Data showed that motor fuels particularly contributed to the fall of inflation, with the average price of petrol falling by 3.1p per litre between December 2025 and January 2026.  

ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said: ‘Airfares were another downward driver this month with prices dropping back following the increase in December.

‘Lower food prices also helped push the rate down, particularly for bread & cereals and meat.

‘These were partially offset by the cost of hotel stays and takeaways.’

Ms Reeves said: ‘Cutting the cost of living is my number one priority.

‘Thanks to the choices we made at the budget we are bringing inflation down, with £150 off energy bills, a freeze in rail fares for the first time in 30 years and prescription fees frozen again.

‘Our economic plan is the right one, to cut the cost of living, cut the national debt and create the conditions for growth and investment in every part of the country.’

Із 16 лютого педагогічні працівники можуть подати заявку на участь у пілотуванні державної політики «Гроші ходять за вчителем» через платформу «Вектор». Вони мають актуалізувати інформацію про заклад освіти, додати дані про класи викладання та підтвердити особу через BankID або кваліфікований електронний підпис. Після цього заклад освіти підтверджує внесені дані, і педагогічний працівник отримує доступ до подання заявки. Учасники проєкту отримають 1500 грн на підвищення кваліфікації та зможуть самостійно обирати програми відповідно до власних професійних потреб.

Із 16 лютого розпочався процес верифікації закладів освіти. Керівникам потрібно зареєструватися на платформі, активувати кабінет за допомогою юридичного КЕП та підтверджувати заявки педагогічних працівників.

Щоб допомогти педагогам і закладам освіти швидко пройти всі етапи, МОН проведе регіональні вебінари з докладними роз’ясненнями. Листи із запрошенням надійдуть від обласних департаментів освіти. 

Подати заявку можна до 16 березня, повідомляє МОН.

By OLIVIA ALLHUSEN, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 14:33 EST, 17 February 2026 | Updated: 20:59 EST, 17 February 2026

A wealthy HSBC banker who dodged £5,900 in train fares using a ‘doughnutting’ ticket scam has been banned from using his local railway. 

Joseph Molloy used what prosecutors described as a ‘sophisticated’ ticketing ruse to slash thousands of pounds off the cost of commuting from his £2million home into London.

He bought tickets covering the start and end of his route, but not the stations in between.

The tactic, known as ‘doughnutting’, exploits ticket barriers to create a ‘hole’ in payment for part of the journey.

Molloy carried out the scam at least 740 times, saving £5,911 over 11 months on Southeastern services, Inner London Crown Court heard. 

It was not disclosed how he was caught.

The 53-year-old travelled from near his £2million home in Orpington to London Bridge before continuing to his Canary Wharf office. 

He admitted fraud by false representation and appeared for sentence on Tuesday, The Times reported. 

Prosecutor Jack Furness described the scheme as ‘sophisticated in planning and execution’. 

Joseph Molloy used what prosecutors described as a ‘sophisticated’ ticketing ruse to slash thousands of pounds off the cost of commuting from his £2million home into London 

Molloy carried out the scam at least 740 times, saving £5,911 over 11 months on Southeastern services, Inner London Crown Court heard (stock image)

Between October 2023 and September 2024 Molloy used false names and addresses to obtain two smartcards loaded with tickets. 

He also secured Jobcentre Plus discounts giving him 50 per cent off fares. 

He initially declined to comment in a police interview but later made a full confession when confronted with the evidence. 

Molloy was appointed head of passive equity at HSBC Global Asset Management in 2015 and retired last year. 

His barrister, Will Hanson, said he had been under stress due to health issues and his mother’s death. 

He described the fraud as ‘discreet’, committed against a large private company rather than an individual, and said Molloy had a distinguished career and was a devoted father active in his church and community. 

Recorder Alexander Stein said Molloy was ‘a man of some financial means’ who could afford his fares. 

He branded the offending ‘persistent and serious’ and said its sophistication merited jail, but suspended the sentence due to strong mitigation. 

Molloy was handed 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work, banned from Southeastern for a year and told to pay £5,000 compensation. 

After the hearing he changed his clothes and vaulted a wall in an apparent attempt to avoid photographers.

Fare evasion costs the rail industry an estimated £240million a year, according to the Rail Delivery Group. Companies are now testing GPS technology to help clamp down on ‘doughnutting’.

Tourists have been ordered to leave parts of the Italian and Swiss Alps after extreme snowfall and increasing avalanche risks forced authorities to evacuate villages and shut down entire areas.

In just hours, weather conditions in regions of northern Italy and Switzerland deteriorated so dramatically that emergency measures were introduced.

These included road closures and evacuations, as drifts several metres high buried Alpine communities.

Beginning on Monday, severe snowfall across Switzerland and parts of northern Italy has created mounting issues.

Regional media report that up to 40 centimetres of fresh snow has fallen, significantly increasing the danger of avalanches.

The second highest warning level is now in effect across the region, and heavy snowfall is forecast to continue today.

The situation is especially serious in Italy’s Piedmont region, leading the regional government to put out a municipal decree ordering the prompt evacuation of Rochemolles, a tourism dependent town, Bild reports.

An access ban was imposed at the same time, with all roads closed to both pedestrians and motorists, according to the Italian newspaper Il Dolomiti.

The Rochemolles section of Bardonecchia was evacuated due to heavy snowfall

An access ban was imposed on the Rochemolles section of Bardonecchia due to heavy snowfall

The village of Le Tour above Chamonix covered in feet of snow

Around 40 people, including both residents and tourists, were told to leave.

Some found their own accommodation, while others were placed in nearby hotels.

Andrea Vuolo, a meteorologist at Meteo Piemonte, warned of the growing threat.

He wrote on Facebook: ‘The area causing the greatest concern is the Gran Vallone, which bears strong similarities to the conditions that triggered the last major avalanche event in this area in 2018.’

During that event, an entire road was blocked. Because of its location, the high mountain valley in Piedmont is particularly vulnerable to heavy snowfall and avalanche danger.

In Switzerland, around 50 people in the municipality of Orsières were forced to leave their accommodation after avalanche risks rose sharply, according to 20minuten.

The village of Le Tour above Chamonix covered in feet of snow

The Rochemolles section of Bardonecchia was evacuated due to heavy snowfall

Those affected either returned home or found accommodation in areas considered less dangerous.

Alongside snowfall, danger has also come from severe winds approaching hurricane-level force.

According to the regional environmental agency ARPA Piemont, gusts of up to 189 kilometres per hour were recorded at the Gran Vaudala weather station in Ceresole Reale, Italy which sits at an altitude of 3,272 meters.

Forecasters have warned that conditions may worsen further.

This comes as two skiers died over the weekend after being buried in the snow following an off-trail avalanche in Italy, close to the borders with France and Switzerland.

At least three skiers were caught up in Sunday morning’s avalanche on the Mont Blanc massif.

The tragedy occurred in the Couloir Vesses, a well-known freeride route in Courmayeur, in upper Val Veny, according to Italy’s Alpine Rescue.

An avalanche at Cervinia in the Aosta Valley in Italy

An avalanche on Tuesday in the Zermatt region of Switzerland

And on Friday, two Brits were among three people killed in an avalanche in the French Alps, a day after several ski resorts shut down due to the risk of snowslides.

Friday’s avalanche in Val-d’Isère swept away six skiers in an off-piste area of the slopes, killing one French national and the two Britons, as red alerts were issued across the Alps.

Emergency services responded quickly but could not prevent the deaths, a resort official said, noting that all of the victims had avalanche transceivers.    

A record 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains during the first week of February, Alpine Rescue reported last Monday, including 10 in avalanches triggered by an exceptionally unstable snowpack. 

Nigel Farage today unveiled a Reform ‘shadow cabinet’ for the first time, with ex-Tory minister Robert Jenrick handed a key role. 

Mr Jenrick, who defected to Reform from the Conservatives last month, has been made Reform’s ‘shadow chancellor’ to take on Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Three other roles were announced this morning, with Skegness MP and former leader Richard Tice in line to be deputy prime minister if Reform wins the next election.

He would also be in charge of a ‘super department’ covering business, trade and energy. 

Party chairman Zia Yusuf, whose parents were immigrants, was unveiled as ‘shadow home secretary’ with a brief to tackle legal and illegal migration, despite not being one of Reform’s eight MPs or a member of the House of Lords. 

And Mr Jenrick’s fellow Tory turncoat Suella Braverman has taken on a role as education and equalities spokeswoman – and said one of her first jobs in government would be to scrap the job of equalities minister.

Mr Farage has been facing calls to sort out a proper frontbench team, now he fronts a team of eight MPs, to knock down claims he is the leader of a one-man-band.

He admitted today that Reform needed the ‘experience’ brought to his team by former Tories. 

Mr Jenrick was previously a Cabinet minister as Housing Secretary under Boris Johnson and was Conservative shadow justice secretary until he jumped ship.

Mr Jenrick, who defected to Reform from the Conservatives last month, has been linked with the party’s treasury role, shadowing Chancellor Rachel Reeves

Mr Farage has been facing calls to sort out a proper frontbench team, now he fronts a team of eight MPs, to knock down claims he is the leader of a one-man-band

Party chairman Zia Yusuf, whose parents were immigrants, was unveiled as ‘shadow home secretary’ with a brief to tackle legal and illegal migration, despite not being one of Reform’s eight MPs or a member of the House of Lords

But his only Treasury experience was an 18-month stint as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, the most junior minister, under Theresa May. 

Today he thanked Farage for allowing him to oppose Rachel Reeves, labelling her an economic ‘wrecking ball’.

He said Reform would put together ‘the most comprehensive plan of any political party’ to ‘fix Britain’s broken economy’. 

He is not the official shadow chancellor, as that role is held by the Conservatives’ Mel Stride. And the same is true of his fellow frontbenchers.

But smaller parties have previously labelled their frontbench teams the ‘shadow cabinet’, including the Liberal Democrats and the SNP. 

Mr Farage told the audience in London that Reform was now ‘the real opposition to Labour’.

Mr Yusuf said ‘more people have turned up on our beaches uninvited in the last seven years than stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.’

Mr Yusuf said: ‘Those people, instead of being detained and deported, have been given free accommodation, free meals, free access to healthcare, free taxis, free leisure activities at the expense of the British people, to the tune of tens of billions of pounds every single year.’

He described the situation as the ‘the most profound betrayal of the British electorate in history’.

He added: ‘If you are in this country illegally right now and you are watching this, I want to be crystal clear: as Reform’s home secretary, I will ensure that you are deported from these lands.’

Mr Tice said the party would create a new ‘super department’ in Government with an aim of getting growth of up to 4 per cent.

Mr Tice, who is the party’s deputy leader, said the party would focus on using oil and gas to help boost the economy and would abandon net-zero targets.

He said the party would also create a ‘serious’ British wealth fund.

Mr Tice said: ‘If we achieve those things then we can reindustrialise Britain, we can reenergise Britain, we can renew Britain and yes, we can rebuild Britain. These are absolutely essential to create growth.’

But Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘After months of infighting and leaks, Nigel Farage has unveiled a front bench dominated by ex-Conservatives – a line-up that looks more like a tribute act to the old Conservative Party than a credible alternative.’

It comes as a new poll today suggested Reform’s poll lead has been cut to just five points. 

YouGov had Farage’s party on 24 per cent, down three points in a week. Labour and the Tories are unchanged on 19 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, with the Greens up a point on 17 per cent.

Skegness MP and former Reform leader Richard Tice in line to be deputy prime minister if Reform wins the next election

Mr Jenrick’s fellow Tory turncoat Suella Braverman has taken on a role as education and equalities spokeswoman

Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said Nigel Farage’s front bench appointments had ‘failed Britain before’ and would do the same again.

Ms Turley said: ‘Farage’s top team of failed Tories spent over 3,000 days inflicting untold damage on our country in government, trashing our economy, hammering families’ mortgages, and leaving our borders open.

‘They failed Britain before – they’d do the same again under Reform.’

By DAN WOODLAND, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 03:29 EST, 17 February 2026 | Updated: 04:56 EST, 17 February 2026

A senior firefighter was wrongly sacked after saying a woman who he rescued ‘looked haggard for her age’, an employment tribunal has ruled. 

Pete Langton was fired by Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service for making ‘misogynistic and sexist’ comments about the woman after pulling her from a blaze.

The Crew Commander (CC) told a meeting in December 2022 that the casualty, who was not named, looked ‘bad’ and ‘haggard for her age’, sparking complaints from female colleagues. 

CC Langton was said to have also used the phrase ‘pull a pig’ – a reference to a crude game played by men on nights out in which they hook up with unattractive women. 

Anna Ditta, a Community Safety Coordinator in the fire crew’s prevention department, later told him to stop, claiming there was ‘no banter’ that could have encouraged the comments. 

She claimed CC Langton had been ‘disrespectful’ in how he spoke about the woman and had not apologised afterwards. 

He was accused of making other female colleagues ‘notably upset’ with his remarks and was dismissed by Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.

But Watford Employment Tribunal found CC Langton was unfairly dismissed as the investigation into his alleged misconduct had a ‘lack of precision’ and there was not a ‘clear finding’ about his behaviour.

A Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service firefighter has won an unfair dismissal case after he was fired for saying a woman who he rescued ‘looked haggard for her age’. Pictured: Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters

CC Langton started working for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service as a part-time firefighter, but he became full-time in 2006.

He was promoted to crew commander in 2020, and he was working at Gerrards Cross Fire Station.

In December 2022, CC Langton was talking in a meeting, which included his watch and also two civilian employees.

Ms Ditta complained after the meeting about his conduct, saying he made ‘misogynistic’ and ‘sexualised’ comments.

CC Langton said he had made the remarks ‘in jest’ as an ‘off-the-cuff comment’ and that he never intended to offend anyone at the meeting.

He said he had made a comment like ‘one you would make about a woman in a club or a night out’.

He said they were talking about the incident and Ms Ditta had asked him whether the woman was his type.

CC Langton said he believed it was a more informal meeting, and this led to his comment. He said he used the term ‘pull a pig’, which was ‘commonly used back in the day’.

He said that Ms Ditta had told him to stop, and he replied saying: ‘No it wasn’t very nice, but I’m sure that you have the same for the men that are left alone at the end of the night.’

 CC Langton started working for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service as a part-time firefighter, but he became full-time in 2006. Pictured: A Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service fire truck

At the start of the investigation into CC Langton’s conduct, he was suspended. He was then fired after a disciplinary meeting that had taken into account the incident and also previous misconduct.

This stated that he had fallen asleep during a presentation, been ‘rude and aggressive’ to another employee and had not performed his role with ‘sufficient attention’.

Employment Judge James Dick said CC Langton was sacked unfairly on technical grounds because the fire service took account of ‘irrelevant factors’.

Judge Dick also said CC Langton had no history of similar behaviour.

Judge Dick said: ‘[The fire service] also overstated the gravity of the misconduct by erroneously taking into account what criminal lawyers would call an aggravating feature (or the absence of a mitigating feature), namely that [his] behaviour was not isolated when in fact he had never done anything remotely similar.’

Judge Dick said the investigation had a ‘lack of precision’ about what it found that CC Langton had actually said and there was not a ‘clear finding’.

The investigation merely used the words ‘sexualised and misogynistic’ comments, which do not show the ‘gravity’ of the comments used, the judge said.

The judge also found it was likely the ‘pull a pig’ comment was not said directly about the women, however the fire service wrongly assumed it was.

CC Langton is now in line for compensation for unfair dismissal.

Американсько­український інвестиційний фонд відбудови за перший місяць приймання заявок отримав понад 60 проєктних пропозицій. Із них 37 — від українських компаній. Про це повідомила Прем’єр­міністр Юлія Свириденко. Команда вже перейшла до конкретної роботи із пропозиціями. Перший проєкт готують до проходження процедури due diligence. Ще 21 — на стадії опрацювання. Усі проєкти стосуються провідних галузей — енергетики, інфраструктури, критичних мінералів, а також інноваційних технологій.

Фонд має стартовий капітал 150 млн доларів — по 75 млн від України та США. Додатково він наповнюється коштами від продажу ліцензій. Створено керівну раду та профільні комітети, обрано інвестиційного радника — тобто всі умови для подальшого ухвалення інвестиційних рішень. 

«Маємо на меті підписати перші три інвестиційні угоди до кінця 2026 року. Пріоритетно фонд інвестуватиме у проєкти, які допоможуть залучати додатковий капітал на інвестиції та дадуть найбільший ефект для нашої економіки», — зазначила очільниця уряду.

Фонд — частина довгострокового економічного партнерства зі США, повідомляє Департамент інформації та комунікацій з громадськістю Секретаріату КМУ.

When Family Day was first introduced 36 years ago, most Albertans saw it as a well-deserved statutory day off between New Year’s Day and Good Friday. It bridged the gap between holidays.

However, decades later, it’s much more.

At the Military Museums in Calgary, ration-tasting and armoury demos were among the activities on offer for visiting families. Its curated exhibits were aimed at offering history as a way to connect with families.

While some children said their favourite part of Family Day is getting off from school, David Petrovich, a veteran and volunteer at the museum, says, “Seeing history and talking about concepts that have happened before that affects today’s lives, it’s great for kids to experience that. But also for the parents.”

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A lot of places in the city chose to host free events for Family Day, creating more accessible ways for people to get out of the house.

There was free family skating at the Ernie Starr, Frank McCool and Murray Copt arenas. Canyon Meadows, Bob Bahan and Thornhill pools also had free swimming for the day. On-street parking in Parkplus zones joined in the free fun too.

Alberta’s government waived the fees for nine of its historical sites this Family Day. Among them, Lougheed House, a historical fixture in the city of Calgary, opened its doors at no cost to visitors.

Steven Kellier, the director of programs and visitor experiences at Lougheed House, says welcoming visitors to the house is part of its fabric.

“It’s an opportunity for us to welcome lots of people in and host people like Lady Lougheed would have done historically,” he said of the free day.

Families got to experience guided tours and learned Métis beading designs from volunteers in the main foyer of the house.

Esau Buenrostro visited the house with his family, including his infant Bella, who took great interest in the wall sconces. He said that using Family Day to get in touch with history was a day well spent.

“Getting the baby out of the house, she’s so intrigued by all the stuff that’s on the wall, there’s so much to look at. It’s definitely keeping the baby preoccupied,” he said.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A gang of teenage boys raped a woman in a town centre alleyway just minutes after chancing upon her as she sat on a nearby bench, a court heard today. 

The four youths targeted their alleged victim after her phone battery ran out following a visit to her boyfriend’s home, jurors were told. 

Prosecutor Samuel Skinner KC said the boys, two of whom were aged 15 at the time and two 17, ‘persuaded’ her to walk down the dark passage with them – with the woman, 18, ‘trusting’ that they were taking her somewhere to have a drink. 

But once in the secluded spot it was claimed three of them ‘took it in turns to have sex with her against her will’ – despite her begging them to stop. 

The hearing was told that after the alleged incident, the ‘distraught’ woman walked home ‘in an absolute state’ with cuts and bruises to her knees, and bruises elsewhere on her body. 

She subsequently reported the matter to police, later identifying one of the alleged rapists on social media. 

Three of the accused – two now aged 18, and one 16 – deny rape, while the fourth, now 16, denies aiding and abetting two of his co-accused. None can be named for legal reasons. 

In opening the case, Mr Skinner KC told the jury the alleged incident took place in Newark, Nottinghamshire, three days after Christmas in 2023.

Jurors heard the woman was sat on a bench outside Hollywood Nails when the defendants met her

Nottingham Crown Court heard the woman was attacked after being persuaded’  to walk down an alleyway

He said the woman had been to visit her boyfriend that day, and had travelled to Newark afterwards by train. 

But he added she was ‘unhappy’, and stopped to sit alone on a bench outside a nail bar in the town centre for a few minutes to have a drink. 

Mr Skinner told at Nottingham Crown Court: ‘Her phone battery had run out. Passers-by noticed her and asked if she was alright. 

‘But then a group of male teenagers approached her, including some of these defendants, and persuaded her to go to a dark alley with them. 

‘She trusted that they were taking her somewhere to have some more to drink.  But instead, several of these teenagers had sex with her in that alley against her will.’

Mr Skinner said the defendants ‘took it in turns’ as the woman was attacked on ‘dirty ground next to some wheelie bins’. 

He added: ‘Whilst they did what they wanted she said “no”, and cried. 

‘Other teenaged males watched, encouraging the others and making it difficult for her to escape. 

‘One took videos on his mobile phone, but I make it clear they do not show the events clearly at all. 

‘Not all of the teenagers who were there in that alley were identified. But these defendants were.’

He said the defendants and the group of bystanders knew each other, but that the victim did not know any of them. 

Mr Skinner told how the first boy alleged to have raped the woman has never been identified. The prosecutor said she kissed him in the alley – but he ‘didn’t listen’ when she asked him not to go any further. 

The court was told he then had sex with her while the others watched – telling them, ‘Have fun boys’ once he had finished. 

One of the accused 17-year-old youths subsequently raped the woman, Mr Skinner added, before one of the two 15-year-old defendants forced her to perform a sex act upon him. 

This was followed by the second 17-year-old, it was alleged, who struck in another secluded area further down the alleyway after the woman asked him to walk her home, after he initially appeared ‘kind’. 

Mr Skinner claimed the final defendant, who was 15 at the time, didn’t have physical contact with the woman, but surrounded her while the others did, and encouraged them. 

He added the boy denied being present during the incident – but police later found videos on his phone that he had taken of it, which were shown to jurors. 

The court heard the boys gave their alleged victim false names in a bid to avoid detection, but all later claimed after they were arrested that she had consented to sexual activity. 

But Mr Skinner said he wanted to ‘remind’ jurors the victim was ‘a female teenager that they had met just minutes beforehand, and whose name they did not know’. 

Despite two of the defendants now being 18, they sat on the back row of the court rather than in the glass-fronted dock alongside their co-accused after judge Stuart Rafferty KC told jurors at the start of the case: ‘They were all children at the time the offences alleged against them took place. ‘We do not put children in glass boxes. We treat them better than that.’

Parents of the youths listened to details of the evidence from the public gallery. 

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues.

By EMMA RICHTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Published: 15:00 EST, 16 February 2026 | Updated: 16:22 EST, 16 February 2026

A young girl has tragically died and four other people were rushed to the hospital after a gunman opened fire at a high school hockey tournament in Rhode Island. 

Chaos unfolded on Monday afternoon at Dennis M Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, about 10 minutes outside of Providence.  

The unidentified male shooter opened fire during one of the hockey games. A young girl died in the shooting. The conditions of those taken to the hospital remain unclear.

Hockey players on the ice were not harmed as the shooting occurred in the stands near spectators.  

Police said that the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after raining bullets in the arena. Police are not looking for any other suspects at this time. 

It was not a school day, and the tournament was played between two interscholastic teams. 

The hockey game was between a co-op team made up of Coventry and Johnston kids, playing against another co-op team from St. Raphael, PCD, North Providence, and North Smithfield schools. The tournament started at 2pm.

Tragic photos of the scene showed parents holding on tightly to their children as they evacuated to the parking lot on Monday afternoon.

Footage also showed parents with their hands on their heads and children – some still wearing their hockey uniforms – crying.

The scene outside of Dennis M Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, after a gunman opened fire during a high school hockey tournament on Monday afternoon. At least one person, a young girl, has died in the gunfire, and four others are in hospital 

Photos of the scene showed parents holding on tightly to their children as they evacuated to the parking lot

Police are seen at the scene of the shooting, where one young girl died

Officials said that the investigation is still active, but the shooter is dead 

A large yellow school bus was also seen parked outside the arena, along with multiple police officers who roped off the crime scene.

Multiple ambulances were also seen arriving then quickly fleeing to nearby hospitals. 

One victim was seen being taken out of the arena on a stretcher.  

After shots rang out at the indoor hockey rink, terrified children ran into a nearby Walgreens pharmacy, screaming, an employee told WPRI.

The shooting comes just two months after another gunman opened fire at Brown University, also located in Rhode Island. 

The shooter, Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, shot 11 people. Two students, Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, died. Nine others were injured. 

They were in a study session held at the Ivy League’s School of Engineering Barus and Holley Building when a gunman burst in and opened fire. 

Valente fired 40 rounds – causing terror among the college students.  

During the ordeal in December, the entire Rhode Island community was thrown into turmoil for days as police and the FBI tried to locate the suspect. 

Shots reportedly rang out from the stands in the stadium on Monday afternoon

Brown canceled all remaining classes, exams, papers and projects for the semester at the time – and told students they could leave campus, underscoring the scale of the disruption and the gravity of the attack. 

Rhode Island is the smallest US state by land area, covering just 1,214 square miles with 1.11 million residents. 

The Daily Mail contacted the Pawtucket Police Department for comment.  

This is a breaking news story.