Birmingham stabbing news: Suspect at large after one killed and seven injured in ‘major’ city centre attack
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A 23-year-old man was killed and seven other people were injured in apparently random stabbings in Birmingham city centre.
The attacks, which are not thought to be related to terrorism, hate or gangs, took place between 12.30am and 2.20am on Sunday.
Police launched a murder investigation and said they were treating four incidents in Constitution Hill, Livery Street, Irving Street and Hurst Street as linked.
Detectives were still hunting the suspect on Sunday evening and released footage of a man they want to question and urged anyone who sees him to dial 999 immediately.
The video shows a man wearing a dark-coloured baseball cap and zip-up hoodie with white drawstrings, dark-coloured trousers and shoes.
Chief Superintendent Steve Graham, of West Midlands Police, said: “At this stage we believe that the attacks were random and we have no indication of a motive. I would urge people to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to us.
"We are appealing for anyone who recognises the man in the footage to contact us urgently."
Police said a 23-year-old man had suffered fatal injuries, while a man and a woman, aged 19 and 32, suffered critical injuries. Five other people, aged between 23 and 33, were also injured. They were treated in hospital and so far two have been discharged.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked the emergency services who responded to the attacks, tweeting: : "All my thoughts are with those affected by the terrible incident in Birmingham last night."
Home secretary says ‘all her thoughts’ with those affected
Priti Patel, the home secretary, said “all her thoughts” were with people affected by the stabbings.
In a statement on Twitter, she said: “All my thoughts are with those affected by the shocking incident in Birmingham last night.
“Our emergency services are working hard to find whoever is responsible and bring them to justice.”
Scale of emergency response captured in video on social media
Footage shared on social media has captured the scale of the emergency response to the stabbings.
A Twitter user posted the video showing an enormous line of ambulances and police cars and dozens of officers and paramedics attending the scene of the incident in Birmingham city centre.
Images from the scene of the incident show a knife recovered from a drain
Witness tells of hooded man running from scene of stabbing
A bar manager has told how he saw a hooded suspect run from the scene of the stabbings.
David Nash, who later saw a casualty being treated for what appeared to be a neck wound, said the suspected attacker fled after members of the public shouted: “Stop him, he’s stabbed somebody.”
Mr Nash was working at The Village Inn in Hurst Street, in the heart of Birmingham’s Gay Village area, when the man walked past the pub at about 2.20am.
The operations director for The Village Inn, The Nightingale Club and The Loft Lounge said CCTV of the suspect had been passed to the police.
“Ordinarily it would be time for us to close, so we had just closed the bar,” he said.
“I was on the street around 2.20am and we heard somebody shout down the street ‘stop him, he’s just stabbed somebody’ and initially it was a guy with a black hoodie on with the hood pulled up over his head, who was walking relatively casually.
“As soon as somebody shouted ‘stop him’ that’s when he ran off into the area of Sherlock Street.”
The man looked like an ordinary member of the public and was walking calmly in the middle of the road opposite the bar, Mr Nash said.
“I couldn’t see any weapon at all. Obviously it was dark, he was in dark clothing from what we could see,” he said.
Mr Nash, who expressed shock and sadness at the stabbings in what is normally a safe area, said the city centre was quieter than usual because of Covid.
“Nobody was acutely aware that something had happened until the point when the area had an influx of police and armed response vehicles,” he added.
Paramedics at local leisure complex saved lives, business owners say
Local business owners said the presence of paramedics stationed at a nearby leisure complex may have saved lives.
Julia Robinson, the general manager for the Southside business district, which covers the Hurst Street area, witnessed the aftermath of the attacks and said responders were on the scene almost immediately.
“It happened very quickly,” she said.
“Thankfully we have got a safe space project that is based in the Arcadian that has trained paramedics.
“Luckily we had trained paramedics that could come out straight away to deal with this and we are really thankful for colleagues at St John Ambulance for stepping up.
“The police were here almost immediately in the aftermath.”
Police forensic officers search for clues on Hurst Walk
Police cordoned off a large stretch of Hurst Street following the attacks but extended the sealed-off area on Sunday afternoon to include a stretch of pavement opposite the Village Inn.
Irving Street named as location of fatal attack
The stabbing that occurred on Irving Street at 1.52am left a man fatally injured.
Here’s the latest update from the police - they are asking the public to “remain vigilant” as the investigation continues.
Attacker was ‘smirking’ after stabbing, says witness
Savvas Sfrantzis, who owns Mykonos bar and grill in Hurst Street, said he witnessed a woman being repeatedly stabbed, just across the street, after he was alerted by her screams.
He said: "I looked at him, facing him, and I can see he had a blade, small, not very big, and he was stabbing her in the neck."
Mr Sfrantzis described how the attacker was "so cold", walking calmly away and "smirking", while other bar staff bravely tried to follow him.
‘I have never seen anything like it’
Eyewitness Savvas Sfrantzis, 64, told how he locked around 30 customers and staff inside his restaurant because he feared it was a terror attack.
He said the first thing he heard was a woman screaming on the other side of Hurst Street at about 1.55am.
Mr Sfrantzis then saw a man stabbing the victim in the neck before walking away “as if nothing had happened”.
"I never heard him saying anything except when she started screaming. The guy walks down the road, smirking and just walking, slow."
The manager of the nearby Sidewalk nightclub and another man tried to chase the attacker but lost him behind the Eden nightclub.
However the attacker then came back and was confronted by the Sidewalk manager who told him: “I recognise your face, I know what you look like”.
Mr Sfrantzis said the attacker replied: “Whatever”.
He added: "I've had restaurants for 30 years, and I have never seen anything like it, I've seen fights, I've seen arguments.
“But, so cold, you know? The guy was out of this world, he didn't give a toss what happened. Just smirking and laughing. It was horrible, horrific.”