Three dead in Nottingham city centre as man arrested on suspicion of murder
Three people have been found dead in Nottingham city centre in what police described as an "horrific and tragic incident".
A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after two people were found dead in the street in Ilkeston Road just after 4am today.
A third man was found dead in Magdala Road, Nottinghamshire Police said.
Another three people are in hospital after someone tried to run them over in a van in Milton Street, in what police believe is a connected incident.
Police are keeping an "open mind" over the motive and believe there is "no-one else outstanding", the force said.
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Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: “This is an 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.
Armed police on Ilkeston Road (Joseph Walshe / SWNS)“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.”
An armed police unit brandishing large guns, with some wearing balaclavas, swooped just a few hundred yards from the main cordon earlier today.
Officers appeared to enter a commercial property on the street, with two females eventually put in the back of a marked car.
A white van behind a police cordon on the corner of Maples Street and Bentinck Road (PA)A number of unmarked police vehicles carrying armed officers also eventually then left after the section of the road was taped off.
One witness, who did not give his name, said he heard "awful, blood-curdling screams" and looked out of his window to see a "black guy dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack grappling with some people".
He told the BBC he saw the double stabbing on Ilkeston Road, close to the junction with Bright Street, at around 4am.
He told the broadcaster: “She was screaming ‘Help!’ I just wish I’d shouted something out of the window to unnerve the assailant.
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Police officers in Nottingham city centre (PA)“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 to revive the pair for 40 minutes.
Armed police are patrolling near the cordon (PA)An eyewitness filmed the moment police appeared to be detaining a suspect on the ground next to a white van on Bentinck Road.
The student told GB News: “We woke up this morning at about 5.30am to what sounded like gunshots.
"We ran to the window and there was armed police running out of what looked like an undercover car. And then the suspect was tasered and dragged out by them and then arrested.
“We didn’t actually see any gunshots but it certainly sounded like them and the glass was all smashed in the van.”
Police swooped on a suspect next to a vanMeanwhile, Kane Brady, a student at the University of Nottingham, told the same news outlet he saw a knife being taken from a white van after a man was arrested outside his house on Maples Street.
Mr Brady said: “We woke up to shouts of "armed police" and what… sounded like some very loud noises, what sounded like gunshots – it was that loud.
“I looked out the bedroom window and saw Tasers. I saw a man being dragged out (of the van) and pinned to the floor.
“I saw him getting arrested, him trying to resist.
Eyewitness Lynn Haggitt (@Channel4News/Twitter)“I then later saw when they opened the van, I saw a large knife being pulled out and then straight away that’s when police closed off both roads, both Maples Street and Bentinck Road.”
Another student told the news outlet
Another witness Lynn Haggitt told BBC News she was feeling “shaky” after describing what she saw near the Theatre Royal this morning.
She described how a white van pulled up beside her at 5.30am on her way to work: “He looked in his mirror, saw a police car behind him, he then quickened up, there were two people, two in the corner, he went straight into these two people.”
A white van pictured within a police cordon in Bentinck Road (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)“The woman went on the kerb, the man went up in the air, there was such a bang, I wish I never saw it, it’s really shaken me up.
“I went over, perhaps I shouldn’t have gone over but I wanted to see if I could help.
“He (the van driver) backed up after he hit… and drove up Parliament Street.
“The woman was sitting up on the kerb, she looked OK. The man was laying down, but then he got up, sat on the side waiting for an ambulance,” Ms Haggitt said, adding “I can’t believe he was able to get up after the head wound”.
A map of the incidents in Nottingham which police believe are linked (Daily Mirror)When asked if she thought the collision was deliberate, Ms Haggitt went on to tell Channel 4 News: “I don’t think I should say that, but to me he went straight into them, he didn’t even bother to turn, just went back straight into them.”
When asked if the people hit were hurt badly, she said that a man appeared to have a head injury.
“They did get him to his feet,” she added, but said of the woman who was hit: “She was sitting up on the curb, to me she looked OK”.
“I was there for 15 minutes and there was no ambulance. One of the policemen, I think, did first aid. He looked after a man on the floor.”
Police cordoned off around 400 yards of the scene at Ilkeston Road with tape, and what appeared to be medical kit was scattered across the road.
Two forensic officers arrived and appeared to dedicate the majority of their time at a bathroom and plumbing business called Willbond.
The forensic officers eventually left the scene on foot with a black crate and large plastic bag.
A resident on Ilkeston Road said a policewoman was “banging on my door” at around 5am asking for any CCTV footage.
A forensic tent on Magdala Road (PA)The man, who asked to only be known as Wayne, said he was told the incident happened around 4.10am before being asked if he had witnessed anything.
“I didn’t see or hear anything, but I’m not surprised this sort of thing has happened around here,” he added.
In a statement, the force explained: "A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three people were killed in the city.
A man has been arrested (PA)"Police were called to Ilkeston Road just after 4am where two people were found dead in the street.
"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."
The incident has led to a multi-agency response (Nottingham Post/BPM Media)Emergency workers dressed in purple are National Inter-Agency Liaison Officers.
Their role is to coordinate between different emergency services at an incident.
The following roads are closed while police carry out investigations:
- Ilkeston Road
- Milton Street
- Magdala Road
- Maples Street
- Woodborough Road from junction of Magdala Road into the city
- Maid Marian Way junction of Parliament Street
Nottingham City Transport, which operates bus routes, said on Twitter: "Severe disruption and delay to all services because of a police incident, which has closed several roads in the City Centre."
St Peter and All Saints added: "Due to the ongoing situation in Nottingham City Centre, St Peter's and the Parish Centre will be closed this morning.
"We will update you on services and opening times when the situation becomes clearer."
A police forensics officer on Ilkeston Road (PA)The Home Secretary is understood to be being kept across events in Nottingham.
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.”
Newark's Conservative MP Robert Jenrick said: "I'm deeply grateful to Nottinghamshire Police and all those who responded to the terrible attack earlier today in Nottingham.
"All of us in Nottinghamshire share a sense of shock. My thoughts and prayers are with those injured and with the family and friends of those killed."
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