Man arrested after three people dead amid Nottingham attacks; 'This is a horrific and tragic incident ... We believe these three incidents are all linked,' say police

Witnesses gave disturbing accounts of victims screaming as they were stabbed and others being mown down by a van in the early morning on Tuesday. The 31-year-old suspect was seen struggling with police as he was arrested on suspicion of murder in the city’s Bentinck Road at around 5.30am in the wake of the rampage. Police have not yet commented on whether the attack is being treated as terrorism, but it is understood that the man has a mental health history.

The first two victims were found dead in Ilkeston Road in a student area of Nottingham at around 4am, with a third victim discovered in Magdala Road. Three other people were injured by a van in Milton Street and are in hospital.

A witness told the BBC he saw a young man and young woman being stabbed in Ilkeston Road, close to the junction with Bright Street. 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”.

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. 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.

Police activity continued in various locations along Ilkeston Road on Tuesday, with parts of the street cordoned off and armed officers deployed, some of whom came from Derbyshire Police and South Yorkshire Police. 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.

Witnesses in Bentinck Road described the suspect struggling as officers dragged him out of a white van. 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.

Another Bentinck Road resident, Dimitrious Lawani, arrived at the scene just as the man was being pulled out of the van. He said: “There’s two of them pulling him and two behind pointing at him – I think those were Tasers.”

The witness said they shouted: “Get down, get out, stop fighting.” Mr Lawani said: “He was being quite resistive – very resistive from what I could tell – and he was also making a lot of noise, but I couldn’t really distinguish what he was saying.”

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.

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.”

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 two people who were hit by a van.

“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.