The suspect in a knife rampage in Reading, England, which left three dead and three injured has been named as Khairi Saadallah, described by the BBC as a “25-year-old Libyan national from Reading”.
Social media footage of the aftermath of the attack, which has been declared a “terrorist incident”, showed a number of victims lying in pools of blood in Forbury Gardens, which had hosted a Black Lives Matter demonstration earlier in the day. Police have so far ruled out any connection to the BLM event.
Details of Saadallah’s background and motivations are sketchy for the time being, but Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Anil Kanti ‘Neil’ Basu, who serves as the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s counter-terrorism lead, says “there is nothing to suggest that there was anyone else involved in this attack”.
Saadallah is reported to have come to Britain as an asylum seeker by Sky News, citing security sources, with the Guardian and other outlets reporting that he was later granted refugee status.
The Guardian also reports that reported that “mental health is being considered as a major factor in the incident”, again citing security sources, with the Telegraph and others making similar claims.
Saadallah is further said to have “previously been in prison for a relatively minor offence” by the Guardian, with The Sun painting a less charitable picture of him as having been “in and out of jail” since his arrival in Britain and “thought [to be] being supervised by the National Probation Service, which monitors high-risk offenders” at the time of the alleged attack.
Thames Valley Police are urging anyone who witnessed the attack or has footage of it to contact the authorities, and to refrain from “speculation”.
A picture shows police tents and equipment at the scene of a fatal stabbing incident that is being treated as terrorism in Forbury Gardens park in Reading, west of London, on June 21, 2020. – British police said Sunday they were treating a stabbing spree in which a lone assailant killed three people in a park filled with families and friends in the southern English city of Reading as a “terrorism incident”. (Photo by – / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
READING, ENGLAND – JUNE 21: Police guard an entrance to Forbury Gardens on June 21, 2020 in Reading, England. A lone attacker targeted groups of people socialising in Forbury Gardens stabbing them in the neck in what police are treating as a terror incident. Three people have died and three more injured and are in serious condition. Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTSPE) raided a block of flats in the city last night. A 25-year-old male Libyan National is in police custody. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Floral tributes are seen at a police cordon at the Abbey Gateway near Forbury Gardens park in Reading, west of London, on June 21, 2020 following a fatal stabbing incident the previous day. – British police said Sunday they were treating a stabbing spree in which a lone assailant killed three people in a park filled with families and friends in the southern English city of Reading as a “terrorism incident”. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
READING, ENGLAND – JUNE 21: Flowers are left at an entrance to Forbury Gardens for the victims of the stabbing attack on June 21, 2020 in Reading, England. A lone attacker targeted groups of people socialising in Forbury Gardens stabbing them in the neck in what police are treating as a terror incident. Three people have died and three more injured and are in serious condition. Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTSPE) raided a block of flats in the city last night. A 25-year-old male Libyan National is in police custody. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Thames Valley Police’s Chief Constable John Campbell gives a statement to the media at a police cordon at the Abbey Gateway near Forbury Gardens park in Reading, west of London, on June 21, 2020 following a fatal stabbing incident the previous day that is being treated as a terrorist incident. – British police said Sunday they were treating a stabbing spree in which a lone assailant killed three people in a park filled with families and friends in the southern English city of Reading as a “terrorism incident”. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
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