Arrest After Van Driven Into Pedestrians, Killing Three in Nottingham

A man was arrested after police in Nottingham, England responded to three separate incidents of a vehicle being driven into pedestrians in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving three dead and three injured.

Nottinghamshire police declared a major incident in the city Tuesday after being called to a series of incidents where people had been hit by a vehicle. They are treating the incidents as linked and have made an arrest of a 31-year-old man.

While no motive has yet been made public, the Guardian newspaper reports that counter-terror police are assisting the investigation but have not taken it over.

Update 1330: Van-attacks may have been followed up with stabbings

Eyewitnesses have said they witnessed victims being stabbed. While there is still no official indication the motivation for this attack may have been terrorism, a vehicle ramming attack followed up by stabbing is, unfortunately, a well-worn terrorist modus operandi.

Speaking to state broadcaster the BBC, one person who witnessed part of the attack said they saw two people — who are now believed to have died — being stabbed in the street. They said: “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.”

The Telegraph reports an eyewitness who described the knifeman as “a black guy dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack”.

There have been no new updates from the Police.

This is a developing story and more follows. The original story continues below.

According to a statement from the force, they were first alerted at 0400 Tuesday morning to Ilkeston Road in the city where two people were “found dead in the street”. Following this, they were called to a separate incident a mile away on Milton Street where “a van had attempted to run over three people”. All three people hit on Milton Street were hospitalised.

A man was also found dead on Magdala Road, which is two miles north of the other scenes. Milton Street runs alongside Nottingham’s Victoria Centre, the city’s large-city centre shopping precinct.

The Prime Minister thanked the emergency services for their work on what he called a “shocking incident” and remarked that he was “being kept updated on developments”.

Nottinghamshire Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: “This is an 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.”

This story is developing and more follows