Manchester stabbing: counter-terror police take lead after three attacked at Victoria station. Lunchtime – video updated

From The Guardian and the Manchester Evening News

The witness to the assailant shouting “Allah” is a BBC employee who was about his own personal business. However my husband says that the initial reports (I was sleeping) from the BBC omited this salient fact; but it was the left leaning Guardian that had the most information. 

Counter-terrorism police are leading an investigation after a man went on a rampage with a knife in Manchester during New Year’s Eve celebrations on Monday night, stabbing three people, including a police officer, and was heard shouting Islamist slogans.

A man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police said there was nothing to suggest a wider threat to the public.

Sam Clack, a BBC producer, was waiting for a tram when the attack took place. Clack told the Press Association: “I just heard this most blood-curdling scream and looked down the platform. What it looked like was a guy in his 60s with a woman of similar age and another guy all dressed in black.

Clack said he also heard the man shouting “Allah” during the attack. “He shouted it before, he shouted it during it – Allah.” Clack added: “The guy, his exact words were, he said: ‘As long as you keep bombing other countries, this sort of shit is going to keep happening’.”

Below video of the man shouting as he is put in the police van. This is a better copy of the video, the man can be clearly heard shouting “Long live the Caliphate – Allah Akbar”

In the early stages of the Manchester investigation detectives will examine any jihadist links of the suspect, and also his mental health history.

North West ambulance service said three people had been taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary in a “serious condition . . .We sent three ambulances in response to a major trauma,” said a spokesperson. “The victims were taken in to the hospital on standby, indicating the seriousness of their conditions.”

The officer, a sergeant in his 30s, was later released from hospital, Greater Manchester police said. A man and a woman both in their 50s – are being treated in hospital for ‘serious, but not life-threatening’ injuries.