Reading stabbings: Three dead as police deal with ‘terror incident’ in Reading

From Sky News

I have been following this all evening. It happened shortly after a Black Lives Matter protest in the same park. BLM organisers denyed it was anything to do with them. They may be right. 

Three people have died in what is believed to have been a terror-related incident in Reading.

One person has been arrested and Sky News’ home affairs correspondent Mark White has been told that early indications are the incident was terrorism.

Sky understands there have been three fatalities, but this has not been confirmed by police or emergency services.

The Press Association is reporting that the arrested man is Libyan.

Graphic video has appeared on social media of at at least two bloodied people being given CPR – but authorities have urged people not to share such content. I have seen the video</a>; the victims and the concerned friends standing by them as the police gave CPR looked to be young and white. 

Lawrence Wort, 20, a personal trainer from Chippenham, said: ‘So the park was pretty full, a lot of people sat around drinking with friends when one lone person walked through, suddenly shouted some unintelligible words and went around a large group of around 10, trying to stab them.

‘He stabbed three of them, severely in the neck, and under the arms, and then turned and started running towards me, and we turned and started running. When he realised that he couldn’t catch us, he tried to stab another group sat down, he got one person in the back of the neck and then when he realised everyone was starting to run, he ran out the park.’

The organiser of Saturday’s Black Lives Matter protest which took place at the scene of the stabbings, said on Facebook the earlier demonstrations were ‘very peaceful’. Nieema Hassan said: It [the incident] had nothing to do with the protests. Thames Valley Police say the same but residents of Reading are not all reassured. 

Get Reading reports that armed police have raided a flat on the basingstoke Road in Whitley. 

I haven’t been to Reading for nearly 30 years, and that was for the famous music festival. I remember during earlier visits to the prison (for work!) and the university that the town was pleasant, quiet, dull even. But times change, and nowhere is safe any more.