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BIRMINGHAM, UK (BBC News): A man who killed a man and injured 7 other people in a two-hour stabbing attack in Birmingham city center in the UK on Sunday is being pursued by police .
The first stabbing was on Constitution Hill at 00:30 BST and the killer moved south, apparently attacking at random, officers said.
The stabbings did not appear to be related to terrorism, gangs or disorder, West Midlands police said.
The force urged anyone with CCTV or moving images to communicate with officers.
Murder investigation detectives said they were looking for a single suspect.
Photo: Forensic officers at the scene of the stabbings (Credit: PA Media).
A man died, another man and a woman were seriously injured and five other people were left with non-life threatening injuries.
Lead defendant Steve Graham said the attacker stabbed people on Livery Street, Irving Street and finally on Hurst Street, where the city’s gay district meets Chinatown, around 02:20 BST.
Police said there was no evidence that the stabbings were a hate crime.
Graham said the officers, some armed, remained in the city center to reassure people.
He added that they had received a series of descriptions of the suspect, but would not reveal any details at this time.
Mr. Graham said: “The events during the early hours of this morning are tragic, shocking and understandably terrifying.
“It appears to be a random attack because we have not found any link between the victims, neither in their nature nor in the place where they socialized.
“Rest assured that we are doing absolutely everything possible to find the culprit and try to understand what exactly happened.”
Officers previously found a knife in a drain, but Graham said it was “too early” to say if it was related to the case.
“What I think it does suggest is the comprehensive nature of our research, that we already have people going down the drain, we have that level of detailed searches,” he said.
Nathan Hudson of the West Midlands Ambulance Service said 14 ambulances were dispatched and that he was among 11 paramedic officers also dispatched to the scene.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked the emergency services “who are working hard at the scene.”
Johnson tweeted: “All my thoughts are with those affected by the terrible incident in Birmingham last night.”
David Nash, who ran the Village Inn on Hurst Street, said that after a “normal night” he heard someone yell “stop him, he just stabbed someone” between 2:00 and 2:15.
“The bars were starting to go down because they all finish early since the reopening from Covid and the next thing we know is that the area is engulfed in armed response vehicles, normal police vehicles, police on foot, ambulances,” he said.
“They just came from absolutely nowhere and the area was full of them and then the police helicopter was in the area, obviously while they were looking for this person they presume is the attacker.”
He said he later saw paramedics treating two people who appeared to have been stabbed.
Nash said police began clearing the area and made sure the bar staff and two other people he helps run around the area got home safely in taxis.
Witness Cara Curran, a club promoter who works at the Arcadian Center, said it had been more crowded overnight than at any time since the start of the shutdown.
Ms Curran said she had finished her shift around 00:30 BST and was drinking with her colleagues when she heard a “loud roar and quite a commotion”.
Streets in the area have already been closed to traffic due to coronavirus restrictions.
Outside of the cordoned off area, much of the city center, like Birmingham’s Bullring shopping center and the Sealife Center at Brindleyplace, is open as usual.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Jamieson said police would work with the city council to see if there were “more steps that need to be taken in the city center” following the stabbings.
An increase in violence was “almost inevitable” due to the pandemic, when people suffered “pent-up feelings” and some were unsure of their future, the Labor CCP said.
Source: BBC News
(Photo Credit: Sky News Screenshot)
