Last updated at Tuesday 13th June at 13:57
An unnamed 31-year-old man has been arrested and three people are dead after ‘major incident’ in Nottingham City Centre.
Several roads are closed and much of Nottingham City Centre is cordoned off as the Police and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service respond to the ‘major incident’.
Armed police also raided a house on Ilkeston Road just after 13:00, with footage earlier appearing to show two women being taken out of a property by police after a new cordon was put in place on the road.
Two people were found dead on Ilkeston Road at around 04:00 BST. Police were then called to Milton Street, where a van had attempted to run over three people who are now being treated in hospital. A third man was then found dead in Magdala Road.
Eyewitness reports appear to suggest armed police were involved in the arrest of the suspect, but this is not confirmed. The police are remaining secretive, and have not yet released any information about the man they’ve arrested. The police have also been criticised for the stock image used in their Twitter announcement of the man’s arrest.
One eyewitness told the BBC he had witnessed the first two victims being stabbed. The anonymous witness said: “Being a hot night, I had the window open and I just heard some awful, blood-curdling screams.
“It’s often quite busy with people coming back from town and you get the usual boyfriend-girlfriend arguments, so I thought it was something like that.
“I looked out of the window and saw a black guy dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack grappling with some people. It was a girl, and a man or boy she was with – they looked quite young.
“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.”
Another eyewitness told GBNews earlier this morning he saw armed police arrest a man after hearing “what sounded like gunshots”. Armed police had earlier been seen in the city centre.
The public have been asked to stay away and plan alternative routes as road closures are expected to continue for some time.
Chief Constable Kate Meynell, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This is an horrific and tragic incident which has claimed the lives of three people
“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.”
We will update you as we learn more.
