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2020 Reading stabbings

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2020 Forbury Gardens stabbings
Part of terrorism in the United Kingdom
Map
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200m
220yds
Forbury Gardens
Forbury Gardens
LocationForbury Gardens, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Date20 June 2020
~19:00 (BST (UTC+1))
Attack type
Stabbing
WeaponsKnife
Deaths3
Injured3

On 20 June 2020 at around 19:00 BST, a man with a knife attacked people in Forbury Gardens, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Three people subsequently died from their wounds and three others were seriously injured. A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. As of 21 June 2020, the attack is being treated as a terrorist incident.

Incident

At 18:56 BST on 20 June 2020, officers from Thames Valley Police were called to Forbury Gardens, a public park in the centre of Reading, Berkshire, England, about 40 miles (60 km) west of London.[1] Police responded to reports of a stabbing with multiple casualties.[2] A witness said the stabbing was "completely random", describing a lone person who shouted "unintelligible words" and attacked two different groups of people with a weapon.[3][4]

A Black Lives Matter protest had taken place at the park earlier in the day, but police said it was "clear" that the attack was not associated with the protest.[5]

Multiple bystanders filmed the incident; police have asked that they do not share their footage on social media.[1][6][7]

Suspect

A suspect with a knife was chased, tackled, and pinned to the ground by police officers.[8] The 25-year-old man was arrested, on suspicion of murder.[9] Both the BBC and The Independent reported that security sources had said that the man arrested was believed to be Libyan,[9] although no official confirmation of this has been issued by the police service. Sky News additionally say that he lives in a flat in Reading and is a refugee.[10]

Casualties

Three fatalities and three seriously injured have been confirmed.[11] Two air ambulances were deployed to the scene,[12] and South Central Ambulance Service confirmed on Twitter that they had deployed their Hazardous Area Response Team.[13] A number of people were hospitalised.[14] A spokesperson for the Royal Berkshire Hospital confirmed that two victims of the attack were being treated in their emergency department.[15][16]

Reactions

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer both expressed their concern over the incident.[3][17] Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed his condolences and thanked emergency services for responding to the scene,[3] as did the leader of Reading Borough Council,[18] who had earlier described the situation as a "major incident".[19]

Reading Borough Council issued a statement the day after, on 21 June, saying "The Council’s thoughts and prayers are with the families of the three people who lost their lives, and for those who remain seriously injured", and announcing that the Council's flag would fly at half mast for the day.[20]

Initial police statements from Thames Valley Police on the evening of the incident said that the incident was "not currently being treated as a terrorism incident" and that they were "keeping an open mind as to the motivation", although counter terrorism officers were deployed.[7] However, the next morning, Counter Terrorism Policing South East stated that the attacks were "a terror incident", and took over command of the incident from the local police.[5][7]

On the following morning of 21 June, Johnson met with senior ministers, police and security officials at 10 Downing Street to be briefed on the events.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Chief Constable Statement - Reading | Thames Valley Police". www.thamesvalley.police.uk. Thames Valley Police. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Police release full statement amid major incident in town". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Wright, Mike; Bird, Steve; Hardy, Jack (20 June 2020). "Reading stabbings: Man arrested after three killed in Forbury Gardens attack". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  4. ^ Stubley, Peter (20 June 2020). "Reading stabbing: At least two people stabbed in 'serious incident' in town centre". Independent. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Reading stabbings: Police declare the three killings a terror incident". BBC News. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ de Miguel, Rafa (21 June 2020). "La policía británica investiga como "incidente terrorista" los apuñalamientos en el sur del país" [British police investigate stabbings in the south of the country as a "terrorist incident"]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 June 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c "Murder Investigation – Reading" (Press release). Thames Valley Police. 21 June 2020. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Three dead as police investigate terror motive in Reading attack". Independent. 21 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Three people dead after multiple stabbings in park". BBC News. 21 June 2020.
  10. ^ Reading stabbings: Forbury Gardens attack was terror incident
  11. ^ "Reading park stabbings: What we know so far". BBC News. 21 June 2020.
  12. ^ Ward, EJ (20 June 2020). "Forbury Gardens: 'Several dead' after mass stabbing incident in Reading". LBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  13. ^ South Central Ambulance Service [@SCAS999] (21 June 2020). "our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), the helicopter and critical care response unit from Thames Valley Air Ambulance and the critical care unit from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, two ambulance doctors and our colleagues from London Ambulance Service" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Connett, David; Otte, Jedidajah (20 June 2020). "Reading stabbing: three dead as UK police investigate possible terrorism link". The Guardian. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  15. ^ Hornall, Thomas; Astle, Mary-ann (20 June 2020). "Multiple stabbings as police deal with 'major incident' in Reading park". Stoke Sentinel Live. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Tributes paid to teacher killed in Reading stabbing". BBC News. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Three dead in stabbing attack in English town of Reading: report". Reuters. 20 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  18. ^ Cllr Jason Brock [@JN_Brock] (20 June 2020). "My thoughts are with all those injured tonight. The Police and emergency services responding have my gratitude and full support and I'd ask everyone in our town to continue to keep clear and let them carry out their work" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "Reading stabbings: At least two stabbed as police deal with 'terror incident'". Sky News. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  20. ^ Nickless, Victoria (21 June 2020). "Statement: Forbury Gardens Attack Reading" (Press release). Reading Borough Council. Retrieved 21 June 2020.


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