British police said on Sunday that they were dealing with a wave of stab wounds in which a single attacker killed three people in a park filled with family and friends in the southern English city of Reading, as a “terrorist incident”.
Thames Valley police said three people were also seriously injured and arrested a 25-year-old suspect from the historic city 60 kilometers (35 miles) west of London.
They made no reference to reports that the man was a Libyan national.
Images showed what appeared to be a large number of counterterrorism police officers carrying out a controlled explosion in a residence where the suspect allegedly lived shortly after the Saturday night attack.
“Counterterrorism police can now confirm that the stabbing incident that occurred in Reading last night has now been declared a terrorist incident,” the police said in a statement.
Counterterrorism police “will resume the investigation,” the statement said.
Downing Street said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was informed of the incident by security officials and senior ministers on Sunday morning.
The conservative leader condemned “this appalling incident” and the best politicians expressed sympathy for those who were injured in Forbury Gardens – a popular park next to the ruins of Reading Abbey in the 12th century.
“Incidents of this nature are very rare, although I know it will not reassure those involved and I understand the concern this incident will have caused in our local community,” said the police chief for Thames Valley, John Campbell.
A Black Lives Matter demonstration took place earlier in the park, but police said there was no indication the two were linked.
“With regard to the Black Lives Matter demonstration and those in attendance, we are all safe,” said Nieema Hassan, organizer of the Reading BLM event, on Facebook.
“None of us are affected. We were all gone by the time this happened.”
“Shouted unintelligible words”
Witnesses reported seeing two air ambulances and several police cars rushing into the park on Saturday evening.
A witness described a single attacker walking in a park full of people relaxing on the grass and stabbing them at random.
“The park was quite full. Lots of people were sitting around drinking with friends,” said Lawrence Wort at the Press Association.
“One person walked, suddenly shouted unintelligible words and walked around a large group of about 10 people, trying to stab them.”
Wort said he saw three people stabbed “in the neck and under the arms”.
The perpetrator then threw himself on another group and “had a person in the neck,” said Wort.
Another witness told the Sunday Mirror that a group of people who had been attacked were “just in a circle to chat”.
The attacker “patted them on the head. Then I thought someone was sick. But there was blood running,” said the witness.
Paramedics were seen trying to resuscitate the injured while they were not responding on the ground.
Officials said two people were being treated in the emergency department at Berkshire Hospital in Reading.
“A horrible and appalling incident,” tweeted police minister Kit Malthouse.
The main leader of the opposition Labor party, Keir Starmer, called the killings “very worrying”.
Britain has witnessed two terrorist attacks in the past year.
A convicted terrorist who was on parole after serving a sentence for terrorist offenses was shot by police after stabbing five – two fatally – by London Bridge in the heart of the British capital in November.
Police killed another attacker who injured three people in a stabbing attack in London in February.
An overwhelming majority of serious crimes committed in Britain are committed with knives and other knives due to very strict laws on the possession of firearms.
Johnson’s Conservative government has promised to toughen penalties for crimes related to terrorism after winning a general mandate in the December general election.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
