A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of serious assault after several people were stabbed at the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that they’d detained a suspect after responding to the incident just after midday.
A police spokesperson said: “We are continuing to respond to an incident at the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester city centre.
“We can confirm that five people have been stabbed and taken to hospital.
“In these early stages we are keeping an open mind about the motivation of this terrible incident and the circumstances as we know them.
“Given the location of the incident and its nature officers from Counter Terrorism Police North West are leading the investigation as we determine the circumstances.
“A man in his 40s — who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of serious assault — remains in custody for questioning.”
Social media posts showed a large number of officers at the scene.
Massive emergency service response to multiple stabbing at Manchester’s Arndale Centre. Paramedics have just brought two people out on stretchers. Armed police are everywhere. pic.twitter.com/Gx47mPBfHl
— Rob Smith (@robsmithitv) October 11, 2019
Police helicopter is circling #arndale and there are a lot of police and paramedics as 4 people injured in incident in Manchester pic.twitter.com/c2OLrb0I8r
— Mel Barham (@MelBarhamITV) October 11, 2019
North West Ambulance Service said it had treated four people at the scene after being called at 11.17am to a stabbing incident.
“We are still on the scene. It is a stabbing incident.
“We’ve got quite a few resources there,” a spokesman for the service said.
They refused to give details on the severity of the injuries.
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