Reading stabbings: A frenzied attack before hero police officer rugby tackled suspect to ground
Forbury Gardens, a park in the centre of Reading, was packed. With the pubs shut, closed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the park was the obvious place to go for a late evening drink on a balmy June evening.
Then at just after 7pm all hell broke loose. According to eyewitnesses, a man began screaming and then produced a knife and embarked on a frenzied stabbing spree.
Lawrence Wort, 20, a personal trainer from Chippenham, watched the horror unfold from a distance of no more than 30 feet. He too sprinted for safety.
The attack, he said, appeared "completely random" with no telltale clue, no previous tension that might have suggested what was about to happen.
“The park was pretty full, a lot of people sat around drinking with friends,” said Mr Wort, “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.”
Reports suggested that as the suspect fled, a brave police officer rugby tackled the knifeman to the ground.
The Telegraph has been told the man arrested is a Libyan.
Video footage, later circulated on social media despite objections from many that it was far too gruesome and should not be shared, showed four people lying on the ground in the aftermath of the attack, blood pouring from wounds, police officers and medics already in attendance trying to keep the victims alive.
In the clip officers tried to administer CPR to one victim, who appeared to be male, while friends desperately tried to stem the flow of blood from wounds.
The clip then moved to another male wearing jeans who was lying on his back as two officers and a civilian tried to treat his injuries. Their fate is not known.
Police said three people died from their injuries and three more were seriously injured.
As the knifeman began his rampage, the picnickers and drinkers in the park ran for their lives; the suspect pursued them.
Two hours earlier, Forbury Park had been the scene of a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest, organisers stressing the event had ended peacefully and was unconnected to what would come next.
Nieema Hassan, an organiser, told the BBC: "In terms of the protest and the people who attended from Black Lives Matter, we're all safe. None of us are affected. We had all left by the time this happened. I am praying for the people who have been affected. I hope they are okay.”
In the immediate aftermath, Reading went into lockdown. Streets were shut off, a cordon thrown around the scene, and armed police deployed.
The eerie sound of a helicopter buzzed overhead. One source told the Telegraph a few minutes later: "The whole of Reading is locked down, it was a random attack so police are not sure who or what is behind this."
Freelance journalist Claire Gould, 33, who lives near the scene, said she saw the air ambulances land on the nearby Kings Meadow as a police helicopter circled overhead. She described hearing lots of sirens and said surrounding roads and a retail park had been cordoned off by officers.
Thames Valley Police did not immediately confirm the fatalities, saying in a post on social media: "Police attended at around 7pm along with other emergency services. Officers arrested a man at the scene who is now in police custody."
Two of the victims were rushed to Royal Berkshire Hospital to receive treatment, where staff were said to have appeared shellshocked by the carnage.
One patient - named as Alistair Smith - told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I was being seen by a nurse who was taking my vitals. She seemed a bit shaken. She was chatting to one of her colleagues and then she turned round to me and said three people are dead.
"Later on she said again that there were three stabbings, she thought it was gang related and there were multiple stab victims."
Asked again he said: "She (the nurse) said there were three fatalities."
