Police in the United Kingdom have said that they were treating the Saturday stabbings in Reading as a terrorist attack. Three people had died after a Libyan national went on a stabbing spree in a Reading park. The arrested man has been identified as Khairi Saadallah.
One eyewitness said that he saw a man moving from group to group stabbing people in Forbury Gardens in the centre of the town. The police have taken Khairi Saadallah in custody on suspicion of multiple murders.
The park, where the terrorist attack took place, was in the news last week for hosting the Black Lives Matter protest. Sadallah was reportedly carrying a ‘five-inch knife.’ BBC quoted an eyewitness, Lawrence Wort, as saying, “I thought it was a fight or scuffle at first…He was moving anti-clockwise round a circle of people.. I saw a large knife, it must have been five inches…I started shouting ‘run’.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he was ‘appalled’ by the death of three people in the latest terror attack. He tweeted, “I’m appalled and sickened that people should lose their lives in this way. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims. Thank you to Thames Valley Police for their bravery in tackling the suspect.
I’m appalled and sickened that people should lose their lives in this way. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.
Thank you to Thames Valley Police for their bravery in tackling the suspect. pic.twitter.com/BWgyODoIWM
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 21, 2020
Johnson added, “If there are lessons that we need to learn about how we handle such cases we will learn those lessons and we will not hesitate to take action where necessary.”
The police have said that this was an isolated terrorist attack and they did not think anyone else was involved.