‘I saw him stab the lad first and then the woman. It was repeated stabbing – four or five times’
An eyewitness to a series of attacks in Nottingham has told of hearing “blood-curdling screams” and seeing the attacker stab two people outside his window.
After declaring a “major incident” on Tuesday morning, Nottinghamshire Police revealed they attended three crime scenes they believed were linked, and that three people were dead. Another three are in hospital.
Shortly after 4am, officers were called to Ilkeston Road where two people were found dead in the street. They were then called to Milton Street where a van had attempted to run over three people, who are now being treated in hospital. A man was also found dead in Magdala Rd.
A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
An eyewitness has since told the BBC how he witnessed a young man and woman being stabbed on Ilkeston Road, close to the junction with Bright Street.
The man, who asked not to be named, said he had left his window open due to the heat and heard “some awful, blood-curdling screams”.
He told the broadcaster that the road is often busy with people coming back from a night out and “you get the usual boyfriend-girlfriend arguments”, so he initially didn’t think anything of it.
When the man looked out his window, he told the BBC, he saw a black guy, dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack, “grappling with some people”.
He said the pair looked “quite young”.
“She was screaming ‘Help!’ I just wish I’d shouted something out of the window to unnerve the assailant,” the man said.
He then described the attack: “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.
“I’d say it all happened within five or six minutes.”
The man said the attacker then just walked off up Ilkeston Road towards town, “as calm as anything”.
He was too scared to intervene saying it was “a horrific thing to witness” and that he was now “in bits”.
The eyewitness called police who he said arrived within five minutes.
Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: “This is a 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.”
Nottinghamshire Police said in a statement Tuesday morning that officers and other emergency services are currently in attendance at several locations, including the Maid Marian Way junction of Upper Parliament Street.
The Nottingham Express Transit (NET) tram network also said it has suspended all services due to “major police incidents around the city and suburbs”.
Other roads cordoned off include Ilkeston Road, Milton Street, Maples Street, and Woodborough Road, from the junction with Magdala Road into the city.
A statement from the police said: “There are multiple road closures in place throughout the city while the incident is being investigated.
“We are asking the public and motorists to please avoid the following areas and plan alternate routes.”
Related links:
Nottingham: Three people dead and man arrested after ‘major incident’
Tram network down and roads closed after ‘major police incident’ in Nottingham
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