Two 19-year-old students and a man in his 50s were stabbed to death before the attacker allegedly stole the older victim’s van and attempted to run over three people in Nottingham, a police chief has said.
Nottinghamshire Police said a 31-year-old man was tasered and arrested on suspicion of murder following the deadly rampage and remains in custody.
On Tuesday afternoon, the University of Nottingham said two of its students had been killed in the attacks – with one confirmed to be Barnaby Webber.
Chief Constable Kate Meynell told reporters the force were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incidents and no further arrests had been made.
The two 19-year-old victims were fatally knifed in Ilkeston Road, a student area of Nottingham, at about 4am.
Ms Meynell said the body of the man in his 50s was found in Magdala Road.
All three were found fatally stabbed in the street by members of the public, police said.
In a short statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, Ms Meynell said the force believed the attacker then stole the older man’s van before driving it at pedestrians in Milton Street.
The vehicle was stopped by officers in Maple Street before the suspect was tasered and detained, Ms Meynell said.
Three people were injured in the van attack, with one in a critical condition in hospital and two suffering minor injuries.
The police chief said the motive behind the attack was yet to be determined, but officers were keeping an “open mind” and working with counter-terror police.
GB News reported the suspect was a west African migrant.
Ms Meynell said the families of all the victims had been informed and were being supported by specially-trained officers.
Mr Webber is believed to have been a member of Bishops Hull Cricket Club in Taunton.
A vigil at Nottingham’s St Peter’s Church, in the city centre, was attended by hundreds of people paying their respects to those who died and those injured.
During the service, attended by mainly students from both the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, those present were invited to place flowers below the altar or light a candle.
Throughout the day on Tuesday, witnesses gave harrowing accounts of the attacks, with one telling the BBC he heard “awful, blood-curdling screams” and saw a “black guy dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack grappling with some people”.
Ms Meynell confirmed officers had carried out searches at a number of properties around the city – with cordons seen being put up on various sections of Ilkeston Road.
A terraced property on the road was under police guard, with staff at a neighbouring hairdresser saying it had been raided last year.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said “we’re in a very early stage of the investigation” when asked whether the attack could have been terror-related.
She told broadcasters in Westminster: “We need to allow the police the time and the space to carry out all of their operational activity to determine the motive.
“It’s right that Nottinghamshire Police are working with Counter Terrorism Policing. But it’s also fair to say that everybody and all professionals on the front line are keeping an open mind as to what the precise motive might have been.”
