Two students among those killedTwo of the three people killed were students at the University of Nottingham, the institution says.
It is with great sadness that we confirm the sudden and unexpected death of two of our students following a major incident in Nottingham city centre overnight.
We are shocked and devastated by the news and our thoughts are with those affected, their families and friends. We know this is likely to cause distress for staff and students in our community.
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France “shares the grief” with the UK after the deaths of three people this morning, the nation’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said.
Our thoughts go to the victims of the tragic events in Nottingham, the injured, the families. We share the grief of our British friends and stand by their side.
Our thoughts go to the victims of the tragic events in Nottingham, the injured, the families. We share the grief of our British friends and stand by their side.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 13, 2023Macron’s statement of support comes after the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, offered “any assistance” the country could provide after the stabbing of four young children in an “unfathomable attack” in a lakeside park in the French Alps.
The University of Nottingham students’ union has confirmed it has cancelled Tuesday’s graduation ball following the attacks in the early hours. The organisation said it was “devastated and shocked” by the attacks that have left three people dead and three in hospital.
We stand in solidarity with all our students and the wider city, and our thoughts are with the families and friends of those harmed, alongside those directly and indirectly affected by the unfolding of these terrible events.
In light of this, we have made the decision to cancel Grad Ball this evening. Attendees will be contacted in due course but, in the meantime, we are continuing to work with the university and relevant authorities to understand the situation.
Jessica Murray
At the police cordon on Ilkeston Road, a forensics team have collected what appear to be two paramedic rucksacks in bags labelled “evidence bag”.
A collection of debris, which looked like clothing and bags, was left at the scene where two people were killed. Two officers remain outside a property a few hundred yards away, which was raided by armed police earlier today.
Jamie Grierson
A significant police presence including several vehicles remains in Bentinck Road, reportedly the scene of the suspect’s arrest.
A police cordon restricts access at the Noel St and Sophie Road junctions, with a number of police officers guarding the perimeter.
A view of the police cordon in place in Nottingham. Photograph: Jamie Grierson/The GuardianA housing association block of flats off Bentinck Road is also taped off.
A resident within the block told the Guardian they heard commotion from the street at around 5.30am and shouts of “get on the floor”.
The resident said they did not believe the suspect lived in the block, and that he was arrested outside a shop on Bentinck Road.
Unverified footage that emerged early on Tuesday shows a man being pinned to the floor by police next to a van in Bentinck Road.
On Noel Street, an entire tram is stationary within the cordon but the Guardian understands it is not linked to the incident.
A tram remains cordoned off in Nottingham after the incident. Photograph: Jamie Grierson/The GuardianSky News has spoken to another student who lives in the area of the incident, and who witnessed the police operation unfolding in Nottingham. Joel Riley told viewers:
I mean there are sirens all along this road pretty much all year round. There was always a slight thought that maybe something a bit more was going on. There was quite a lot, all throughout from 5am, it was pretty constant. I guess it was around 9 or 10, and I had messages from people. I hadn’t checked the news at that point, and then I kind of realised that something had actually happened. It was absolutely packed with police. Armed police going checking cars. Police going into this building here. So yeah, it was a little bit of a shock really this morning. It’s quite a weird thing to wake up to.
Nottinghamshire police are operating a dedicated line for people concerned about a family member or friend in the area of the incident – 0800 0961011.
Here are some of the latest images of the police operation in Nottingham, where a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three people were killed and a further three injured in the city centre.
A police forensics officer conducts a search on Ilkeston Road in Nottingham. Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty ImagesA white Toyota car is cordoned off by police in Arundel Street, off Ilkeston Road in Nottingham. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PAPolice officers stand on duty outside a house that was raided on Ilkeston Road in Nottingham. Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty ImagesPolice keeping ‘open mind’ about motive for attack
Jessica Murray
Police have said they are keeping an “open mind” about the circumstances around today’s attack, which has left three people dead.
The force also confirmed that one man was in hospital in a critical condition after the attacker attempted to run over three people in a van. The other two victims suffered minor injuries.
No one else is being sought in connection with the incident and police have arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of murder who remains in police custody.
Chief constable Kate Meynell said counter-terror police were involved in the investigation, though that does not necessarily mean the attack is terror-related.
In a newly released statement, Meynell said:
This is a tragic series of events which has led to the lives of three innocent people being taken and left another member of the public in a critical condition in hospital.
My thoughts are with all the families affected by this shocking incident, and we will be working extremely hard to understand exactly what has happened.
We are at the early stages of the investigation and need to determine the motives behind these attacks and will keep the public updated as soon as we are able to say more.
We are keeping an open mind as we investigate the circumstances surrounding these incidents and are working alongside counter-terrorism policing to establish the facts – as we would normally do in these types of circumstances.
We do have a man in custody who has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Currently, we do not believe there is anyone else involved in this incident.
It is safe to go into the city centre but there are a number of streets that will remain closed including Ilkeston Road, Magdala Street, Milton Street and Maple Street. This is so officers can gather evidence in order to understand what has happened.
Hours after the attacks, the sequence of events remains unclear
Vikram Dodd
Police believe the first two people they found at around 4am were stabbed. A witness also told the BBC they saw two people being attacked with a knife. Postmortems will determine the cause of death.
The sequence of the attacks, hours after they took place across an area of over a mile and a half, remain unclear.
At some point a van was obtained by the suspect – believed not to be owned by him – and used to drive into three people. They are being treated in hospital, and a mile from that scene a white van is visible with dents to the bonnet and damage to its window.
Hours after the string of attacks, armed police have been involved in raids across the city as the police investigation chases down leads and hunts for evidence.
People living in Bentinck Road have said they saw police drag a man out of a white van at about 5.30am. Demi Ojolow, a student, has told the PA news agency:
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.
Ojolow said police were pointing some kind of weapons at the man, but she was not sure whether they were Tasers or firearms. Nor did she know whether or not the man from the van was armed. Asked what the police shouted, she said: “Get out of the car and get on the floor.”
Another Bentinck Road resident, Dimitrious Lawani, told PA:
Two of [the police officers] were holding what seemed to me to be a Taser. The other one seemed quite a bit bigger than a Taser. I’m not sure what that one was.
Lawani, also a student, said he arrived at the scene just as the man was being pulled out of the van.
There’s two of them pulling him and two behind pointing at him – I think those were Tasers.
He said they shouted: “Get down, get out, stop fighting.” 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. Once he was on the floor and the shouting calmed down, I went back to sleep.
His friend, Grace Mambi, said:
It was the police shouting ‘get down’, screaming ‘get down’. That’s the loudest I’ve heard police in my life.
Police guarding property close to where two people were killed
Jessica Murray
Police officers are guarding a property at 209 Ilkeston Road, about 400 yards from where two people were killed in Nottingham outside university halls of residence.
Armed police raided the property this afternoon, kicking down the front door to gain access.
At Xclusive Hair Studio barbers next door, Mohammed Qasim said the property had been raided by police last year, but he believed it was empty, and a sold sign had been put up recently.
Further up the street, police entered another property and escorted out two young women, who left in a police car.
The area is predominately occupied by students, many of whom said they were shaken by what happened.
“I was woken up to a phone call from my mum asking if I was OK,” said Joey Buckingham, a Nottingham Trent student.
“I think people are scared and worried in case something similar happens again. It was very close to university accommodation. But most students have gone home for summer now; I’d say only about 20% are still here.”
Helen Pidd
Petra Gyuricska and her husband, Miklos Toldi, said they were among the first to discover the body of a man on Magdala Road at 4.30am. They were heading to her workplace when they saw the man lying on his side outside Magdala Tennis Club. Gyuricska told the Guardian:
I was just leaving for work … my husband gave me a lift, and then we were leaving and we saw the body lying … on the floor, and then we saw the blood and I just told my husband to stop.
I tried to call 999 but I couldn’t get connection. Someone else came as well – [in] another car – and he called.
Gyuricska said she believed he had already died by the time they found him. She told the Guardian:
We stayed … first a police car came, and then another two police cars came, and then an ambulance came. The police, they started CPR but it was too late. I mean, you could just see.
The couple struggled to estimate the man’s age, but agreed he was probably older than 50 years. Toldi said he was dressed in “working clothes” and Gyuricska described him as white.
Speaking to the same broadcaster, she has added:
I just got off the bus with around 40 other people and we were walking along Market Square to catch our next bus, crossed over the road at Theatre Royal and got around 10ft down the road when all of a sudden we heard a bang which sounded like a vehicle hitting a bollard.
I turned around and then saw the two people on the floor, on the road. Someone was screaming. I think a gentleman ran over to help as well.
The police were there straight away, then the ambulance arrived and they got the two people in the ambulance and got them sent off to whichever hospital.
Another witness in Nottingham has described the moment she saw a man and a woman hit by a van, with her account tallying largely with that given in respect of the same incident by Lynn Haggitt (see 11.09am).
Frances, who did not publicly give her surname, told Sky News she was on her way to work and was near Theatre Royal in the city centre when she saw the van hit the two people.
There was a male and a female. The female, she could speak. She was in pain from the impact of hitting the ground. She had hit her head but was still able to speak.
Then the gentleman as well took the full brunt of the van and he had head injuries but was still awake. He didn’t lose consciousness, he was still awake at that stage.