Three people were killed and a couple were run over on the street in Nottingham city centre this morning; a guy has been taken into custody.
Just after 4 in the morning, police were called to Ilkeston Road where two bodies had been discovered in the roadway.
Witnesses reported hearing ‘blood-curdling’ screams and seeing a young guy and lady being stabbed near to the intersection with Bright Street.
The man, who did not give his name, said he looked out of his window to see a ‘black guy dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack grappling with some people’.
He said: ‘She was screaming ‘Help!’ I just wish I’d shouted something out of the window to unnerve the assailant.
Police dealing with ‘ongoing serious incident’ in Nottingham
‘I saw him stab the lad first and then the woman. It was repeated stabbing – four or five times. The lad collapsed in the middle of the road.
‘The girl stumbled towards a house and didn’t move. The next minute she had disappeared down the side of a house, and that’s where they found her.
‘I’d say it all happened within five or six minutes. The attacker then just walked off up Ilkeston Road towards town, as calm as anything.’
The man said he called the police, who arrived within five minutes, before paramedics tried for 40 minutes to revive the pair.
Officers were then called to another incident in Milton Street where a van had attempted to run over three people. They are currently being treated in hospital.
A man has also been found dead in Magdala Road.
Police have arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of murder and he remains in police custody.
A student told GB News: ‘We woke up at about 5.30am this morning to what sounded like gunshots.
‘We ran to the window and there were armed police running out of what looked like an undercover car.
‘Then the suspect was in a van and was tasered and dragged out and then later arrested.
‘We didn’t see any shots but it sounded like them and the glass is all smashed in the van.
‘He was taken out the van and he had the cuffs on him and he was arrested.
‘We saw a man pinned down on the ground and more armed police turned up.’
‘They searched the back of the van and they pulled an absolutely massive knife out the back of the van.’
Pictures of the arrest show a white Vauxhall Vivaro with two cracks in the windscreen as cops detained the suspect.
It comes as witness claims they heard gunshots following the tragedy.
Police activity continued in various locations along Ilkeston Road, with parts of the street cordoned off and armed officers deployed, some of whom came from Derbyshire Police and South Yorkshire Polic
Later today two women were taken away from one commercial property in a police van shortly before 1pm.
A terraced property was also under police guard, with staff at a neighbouring hairdresser saying it had been raided last year.
A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in relation to the attacks. It is understood that he has a mental health history.
Unverified footage showed a man being detained outside a convenience store in Bentinck Road at around 5.30am on Tuesday.
Student Demi Ojolow, who lives in the road, said: ‘I just saw the police shouting at him to get out of the car and get on the floor.
‘And they dragged him out of the car and he just fell on the floor. He was still pretty wrestling at the point.
‘They dragged him away and that was about it.’
Ms Ojolow said police were pointing some kind of weapons at the man but she was not sure whether it was a Taser or firearm.
Damage could be seen to the bonnet and windscreen of the van which was left at the scene.
Road closures have been put in place covering a wide area of Nottingham city centre, including Ilkeston Road, Milton Street, Maples Street and Woodborough Road, from the junction with Magdala Road into the city, Magdala Road and Maid Marian Way at the junction of Parliament Street.
The tram network was also disrupted with all services suspended on the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) as the police investigation continued.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak thanked the emergency services for their response to the ‘shocking incident’, adding: ‘My thoughts are with those injured, and the family and loved ones of those who have lost their lives.’
Home Secretary Suella Braverman also expressed her shock at the deaths, and said she is receiving regular updates from Nottinghamshire Police.
Another witness, Lynn Haggitt, told Channel 4 News she saw a van hitting two people at around 5.30am near the Theatre Royal.
‘I saw a van pull up at the side of me,’ she said. ‘It was white, all white. There was a police car behind it, coming up slowly, no flashing lights.
‘The man in the driver’s seat looked in his mirror and saw the police car behind him.’
She said the white van then drove up to ‘the corner of the street and went into two people’.
‘The lady ended up on the kerb, and then he backed up the white van and he went… speeded up Parliament Street with the police cars following him,’ Ms Haggitt added.
The man who was hit suffered a head injury but got to his feet, while the woman was sitting on the kerb, she told the broadcaster.
Both Nottingham Fire and Rescue and East Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed they were also dealing with the aftermath of the attacks.
Nottinghamshire Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: ‘This is a horrific and tragic incident which has claimed the lives of three people.
‘We believe these three incidents are all linked and we have a man in custody.
‘This investigation is at its early stages and a team of detectives is working to establish exactly what has happened.
‘We ask the public to be patient while inquiries continue. At this time, a number of roads in the city will remain closed as this investigation progresses.’
The force has not yet commented on whether the attacks are being treated as terrorism.