13 June 2023 , 11:28
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A witness has described seeing a young man and woman being stabbed in Nottingham city centre this morning.
The man, 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".
It comes after three people were found dead in the city centre in what police described as a "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.
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Another three people are in hospital after someone tried to run them over on Milton Street. Police have described the deaths and injuries as being connected.
Armed police are at the scene.
Armed police are in the city centre (PA)The witness 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.
“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.
Police arrest a suspect next to a van“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.
Meanwhile, a video shows police detaining a man on the ground next to a white van, with its passenger side door open.
Kane Brady, a student at the University of Nottingham, told GB News he saw a knife being taken from a white van after a man was arrested outside his house on Maples Street.
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A white van pictured within a police cordon in Bentinck Road (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)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.
“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.”
There is a large police presence at the scene (PA)A resident on Ilkeston Road said her neighbours had told her they were woken by loud screams at around 4am.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “I didn’t hear anything, but my neighbours said they heard screaming at about four in the morning.
“Imagine hearing that. I slept through it. I didn’t see anything but the police knocked on my door at 5am.
“It’s horrible.”
A map of the different incidents (Daily Mirror)Lynn Haggitt told BBC News she was feeling “shaky” after describing what she saw a white van ram two people.
She described how the vehicle pulled up beside her at 5.30am on her way to work near the Theatre Royal: “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.”
“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.
Eyewitness Lynn Haggitt (@Channel4News/Twitter)“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”.
Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: “This is a horrific and tragic incident which has claimed the lives of three people.
A police forensic officer on Magdala Road (PA)“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.”
If you have any information on this mornings incident or are concerned about a family member or friend please call this dedicated line - 0800 0961011