A man in his 30s was stabbed to death on a Nottingham tram today in front of horrified passengers, with witnesses describing the carriage as ‘like a bloodbath’.
The victim was knifed on board the tram at about 11am as it approached the Highbury Vale tram stop in Basford, a northerly suburb of the city.
Witnesses claimed a man had pulled a knife out of a rucksack and started waving it at people, with screaming heard as passengers tried to tell the driver to stop.
A man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and remains in custody. Police believe the attack was isolated and are not looking for any other suspects.
Officers cordoned off the area and remained at the scene this afternoon. It comes just days after two students and a caretaker were knifed to death in a triple murder.
Police at the scene at Highbury Vale tram stop in Basford, Nottingham, after today’s stabbing
Police cordoned off the area in the Nottingham suburb today and remained at the scene
The victim was knifed on board the tram as it approached the Highbury Vale tram stop today
A witness, who lives near Highbury Vale tram stop, said: ‘I was walking nearby and just saw people dripping in blood.
‘A young lad about 15 or 16 came off the tram and said a man was on the tram when he suddenly pulled a knife out of a rucksack and started waving it at people. He stabbed somebody and was going after other people.’
She said the teenager told her that ‘everybody was screaming’ and trying to make their way to the back of tram so they could tell the driver to stop.
‘According to this lad another man managed to get hold the knife and stabbed the attacker in the chest,’ she said.
‘The lad had videoed some of the attack on his phone and he showed it to me and my friend. You couldn’t the attacker’s face but the carriage was like a blood bath.’
The witness shared how she saw ‘really shocked’ passengers exiting the tram and even helped an older lady across the road.
‘We passed a police van and the man who had stabbed the attacker was sitting in the van with blood on his hands,’ she said. ‘He was shaking and looked in a bad way.’
Chief Inspector Ash Thornton, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘What happened at Highbury Vale this morning is tragic and has resulted in the death of a man in his 30s.
‘We know there were other passengers on board at the time and understand how frightening this must have been for anyone who saw what happened.
‘Our officers were at the scene quickly and detained a suspect. He remains in police custody.
Police were called to Highbury Vale tram stop in Basford shortly after 11.10am this morning
Police seal off Highbury Vale tram stop in Nottingham today following the stabbing
‘This was an isolated incident and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with what happened this morning.’
A spokesman for East Midlands Ambulance Service said: ‘We received a call at 11.11am on 26 June to Highbury Vale tram stop in Basford. The caller reported a medical emergency.
‘We sent two paramedics in fast response cars and two crewed ambulances. The air ambulance was also in attendance.’
Police earlier made any appeal to anyone with video footage or information about the attack to please come forward.
Tram services across the disrupted as detectives invvestigated.
Nottingham Express Transit tweeted: ‘Due to the police incident we currently have no service between Bulwell, Phoenix Park and Wilkinson Street.
An air ambulance prior to landing at the Highbury Vale tram stop in Nottingham today
Nottinghamshire Police believe the attack in the city this morning was an isolated incident
Police believe the attack was isolated and are not looking for any other suspects
‘There is a shuttle tram running from Hucknall to Bulwell. Yellow line NCT buses are accepting our tickets and passes for travel and EMR Trains.’
The latest attack took place just two miles from the streets where three people were murdered on June 13.
Hockey star Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, was stabbed to death alongside friend Barnaby Webber, 19 as they walked home from a night out at 4am.
The pair were just five minutes from home after an end-of-term party when the knifeman – clad in all black – attacked them on Ilkeston Road.
Around an hour later, school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, was stabbed to death on Magdala Road – just streets from where Grace and Barnaby died.
Valdo Calocane, 31, of no fixed address, was charged after being arrested by police on suspicion of murder.
