Great Britain
Three dead and three injured in Nottingham
Forensics officers in Nottingham. Three people have been killed in the center of the English city. photo
© Zac Goodwin/PA Wire/dpa
Shock and confusion in Nottingham. Three people are killed and three others injured in the English town. The crimes are spread all over the city – and are probably related.
Police sirens in the early morning make residents and witnesses in Nottingham jump. “I heard a police car speed past,” Glen Gretton told the PA news agency. “It went very fast, then there was another, then another. There were more and more, so I knew something big was happening in the city.” It soon became clear that three people had been killed and three others injured in the English city. A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, police said.
Chief Constable Kate Meynell speaks of a “terrible and tragic incident” in a first reaction. The crime scenes are all over the city. Two bodies were found on Ilkeston Road in the west just after 4:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. CEST) in the early morning. A local resident said he woke up to a police officer knocking on his door asking for surveillance footage. But he didn’t notice anything.
The actions are probably related
Another eyewitness told the BBC that he heard screams and then looked out the window – and saw a man dressed in black stabbed a young man and then a young woman several times.
Soon after, the police were called to another incident in the city center where a white van apparently tried to run over three people. They were taken to hospitals with injuries. Finally, another dead body is found on Magdala Road. The acts are probably related, as chief investigator Meynell says. There is about a mile (1.6 kilometers) between each crime scene.
The background is still completely unclear
After initially reporting a “serious incident”, the police presented the alleged perpetrator, a 31-year-old, in the morning. According to media, officers had located a white van, which could be the same vehicle as in the downtown incident, in north-west Nottingham. The area was cordoned off. A shaky video from a local resident is said to show three police officers arresting a man at around 5:30 a.m.
Eyewitness Lynn Haggitt told the BBC she saw a van run over two people – apparently on purpose, with police cars in pursuit. “I’m all shaky, I haven’t seen anything like that before,” she said.
There was initially no information about the background. According to information from the broadcaster Sky News, the police are currently investigating murder and not a terrorist act. The authorities called on witnesses to come forward and provide footage from surveillance cameras and “dashcams”. In many places, investigators were seen in full body suits.
The Nottingham Open tennis tournament continues
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak thanked the emergency services for their work and quick response. Interior Minister Suella Braverman was “shocked and saddened”. “Our city is devastated by the deaths of three people this morning,” said the opposition Labor party’s three MPs for the central English city in a joint statement.
Several roads were closed in Nottingham, trams were stopped and bus routes were diverted. Authorities are urging people to avoid the center. A large shopping center is open though.
The Nottingham Open lawn tennis tournament, which is considered an important preparation for Wimbledon, continues as planned. The organizers emphasized that visitors should take more time to get there. The popular first division football club Nottingham Forest was shaken in a statement.
Nottingham is located in the geographic center of England, around 175 kilometers as the crow flies north of the capital London. About 324,000 people live in the city on the banks of the River Trent in the East Midlands area. Especially in the 19th century, the number of inhabitants grew strongly in the course of industrialization. Nottingham is now also known as a student city.
The city is known for the legend of Robin Hood. The story of the hero who stole from the rich to give to the poor first appeared in the Middle Ages. He reportedly lived in Sherwood Forest north of Nottingham. Today, Robin Hood serves as an advertising figure for many local businesses and boosts tourism.
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