Birmingham stabbings: Man dead & seven injured in 'major incident'.
Police have launched a murder investigation
Last updated 6th Sep 2020
A man has died and seven others have been injured after multiple stabbings in Birmingham city centre.
West Midlands Police have declared a 'major incident' and launched a murder investigation.
The force believe the four incidents, which took place between 12:30am and 2:20am, are linked.
No arrests have been made as of yet & officers are searching for one suspect. It appears that they've attacked people at random.
Detectives are now going through CCTV to identify the attacker.
It's not being treated as terror-related. Neither is it being treated as hate or gang related at this stage.
West Midlands Ambulance says they received multiple calls to three locations over a period of an hour and twenty minutes.
The initial call was to the junction of Colmore Row & Livery Street at 12.40am, with further incident at Irving Street at 1.52am and Hurst Street at 2.00am.
A total of 14 ambulances were sent to the scene.
Five patients were taken to the major trauma centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.
Three had suffered critical injuries and sadly, a man died shortly after arrival.
Two further patients with non life-threatening injuries were also taken to Heartlands Hospital for treatment.
An eighth patient with minor injuries did not receive ambulance treatment.
Detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry and have increased uniformed and armed response in the city.
A number of police cordons and road closures remain in place, including Livery Street, Irving Street and Hurst Street.
Several yellow police evidence markers could be seen on the ground, some near to broken glass.
Chief Superintendent Steve Graham, responsible for policing in Birmingham, said:
“The events during the early hours of this morning are tragic, shocking and understandably frightening.
Please be assured that we are doing absolutely everything we can to find whoever was responsible and try to understand what exactly happened.
We have well-rehearsed plans for dealing with major incidents. Your safety is always our priority and that’s why you’ll see an increase in officers on the streets.
In the meantime, we’d ask anyone who’s in the city to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious to us.”
The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson, said:
“Last night’s events are truly terrible and have shocked the people of Birmingham, the West Midlands and the country.
My first thoughts are with the victims and their families at this time.
I have every faith in West Midlands Police who are working extremely quickly on this investigation.
My thanks also go to the ambulance and hospital staff who are working around the clock to help those who have been injured.”
The Prime Minister has thanked the emergency services who responded to the stabbings.
The West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has tweeted this morning, thanking the emergency services who are dealing with the incident.
He also says the city remains open as usual for business.
The Arcadian venue, which is about a five minute away from Birmingham New Street station, is a hub of restaurants, bars, cafes, clubs and hotels.
It is close to the city's Chinese Quarter and Gay Village areas.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said anyone close to the area should be "very vigilant".
Speaking to Sky News 'Sophy Ridge On Sunday' programme, Mr Raab said:
"My thoughts are with the victims and their families, there is obviously an ongoing police investigation.
I can't say too much more at this stage but people should be very vigilant if they are in that area."