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2020 Reading stabbings

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

On 20 June 2020 shortly before 19:00 BST, a man with a knife attacked people in Forbury Gardens, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Three people died from their wounds, and three others were seriously injured. A 25-year-old Libyan man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder, and subsequently under the Terrorism Act 2000. The attack is being treated by Counter Terrorism Policing South East as a terrorist incident.

Attack

Shortly before 19:00 BST on 20 June 2020 a lone man shouting what a witness described as "unintelligible words" attacked two groups of people in Forbury Gardens, a public park in the centre of Reading, Berkshire, England, about 40 miles (60 km) west of London, with a knife that a witness estimated to have been at least five inches (13 cm) long.[1] The attacker stabbed people severely in the neck, under their arms, and in the eye.[2][3][4][5] The witness said the stabbing was "completely random".[3][4] At 18:56 BST, officers from Thames Valley Police were called to the park, responding to reports of a stabbing with multiple casualties.[6][7]

A suspect with a knife was chased, tackled, and pinned to the ground by police officers five minutes after the first 999 call was made.[8][9] The man was arrested, initially on suspicion of murder, and later re-arrested while in custody under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.[10][11][12]

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.[13]

Multiple bystanders filmed the incident; police asked that they not share their footage on social media.[6][14][15]

Suspect

BBC, The Independent, and Reuters reported that security sources had said that the 25-year-old man arrested was a Libyan citizen.[16][12][11] A security source told Reuters that the suspect had come to the attention of Britain’s domestic security agency MI5 in 2019 over intelligence he aspired to travel for extremist purposes.[11] Sky News additionally reported that he lived in a flat in Reading, and is a refugee.[17]

Casualties

The attack resulted in three fatalities and three seriously injured.[18][19] Two air ambulances were deployed to the scene, and South Central Ambulance Service confirmed on Twitter that they had deployed their Hazardous Area Response Team.[20][21] Of the injured people, two were admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital's emergency department, in Reading.[22][23][24] One other injured person was admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

One of the people killed was James Furlong, a history and politics teacher, aged 36, who worked at The Holt School, in Wokingham in Berkshire.[25][26]

Reactions

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer both expressed their concern over the incident.[3][27] 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,[28] who had earlier described the situation as a "major incident".[29]

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.[30]

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.[15] 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.[13][15]

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.[13]

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b Stubley, Peter (20 June 2020). "Reading stabbing: At least two people stabbed in 'serious incident' in town centre". Independent. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. ^ [3]
  6. ^ a b "Chief Constable Statement - Reading | Thames Valley Police". www.thamesvalley.police.uk. Thames Valley Police. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Police release full statement amid major incident in town". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  8. ^ "'Hero' police praised for bravery when tackling Forbury Gardens terror suspect". inews.co.uk. 21 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Three dead as police investigate terror motive in Reading attack". Independent. 21 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Reading attack suspect 'known to MI5'". 21 June 2020 – via www.bbc.com.
  11. ^ a b c "UPDATE 4-Britain says stabbing "atrocity" in town park was terrorism". 21 June 2020 – via af.reuters.com.
  12. ^ a b "Three people dead after multiple stabbings in park". BBC News. 21 June 2020.
  13. ^ 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)
  14. ^ 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)
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "First victim identified as UK police confirm Reading knife attack is 'terrorism incident'". The National.
  17. ^ "Reading stabbings: Forbury Gardens attack was terror incident - suspect is Libyan asylum seeker". Sky News.
  18. ^ "Reading park stabbings: What we know so far". BBC News. 21 June 2020.
  19. ^ [4]
  20. ^ Ward, EJ (20 June 2020). "Forbury Gardens: 'Several dead' after mass stabbing incident in Reading". LBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ "Tributes paid to teacher killed in Reading stabbing". BBC News. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ Murphy, Neil; Rampen, Julia; Bona, Emilia (21 June 2020). "'Kind and gentle' teacher from Liverpool killed in Reading attack". liverpoolecho.
  26. ^ Blackall, Molly (21 June 2020). "'Passionate' schoolteacher is first Reading attack victim to be named" – via www.theguardian.com.
  27. ^ "Three dead in stabbing attack in English town of Reading: report". Reuters. 20 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ "Reading stabbings: At least two stabbed as police deal with 'terror incident'". Sky News. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  30. ^ Nickless, Victoria (21 June 2020). "Statement: Forbury Gardens Attack Reading" (Press release). Reading Borough Council. Retrieved 21 June 2020.


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