Nottingham attacker is ‘refusing to answer questions’ about triple killing and was already known to police before horror
A LONE wolf attacker held after killing three people in Nottingham yesterday is refusing to co-operate with police.
The 31-year-old West African – known to cops – is not a British citizen but has lived in the UK since his teens with legal settled status.
He does not have a criminal record and is not thought to have been on the radar of MI5 or counter-terror police.
But he is suspected to have a history of mental health problems, sources say.
It is understood he is refusing to co-operate with police investigating yesterday’s attacks, threatening to slow the probe down, The Telegraph reports.
Blood-curdling screams signalled the start of the horror at 4am, when two teen students were stabbed to death near the University of Nottingham campus.
Barnaby Webber and pal Grace Kumar, both 19, were walking home from a night out at PRYZM when they were targeted in the student area of Ilkeston Road.
Around an hour later, more than two miles away in Magdala Road, the black-clad attacker stabbed a van driver to death and stole his vehicle.
At 5.30am the white Vauxhall Vivaro rammed into three people waiting for a bus in Milton Street in the city centre.
The smash left three in hospital with one, a man, in a critical condition and two others with minor injuries.
Police later arrested the suspect and seized the van before counter terror officers launched a 1pm raid at an address on Ilkeston Road, yards from where Barney and Grace were killed.
Barney’s grief-stricken parents David and Emma have described the heartache they feel over losing their “beautiful, brilliant, bright” son.
They described their “complete devastation” at the “senseless murder” of their son adding brother Charlie is “bereft beyond belief”.
They said: “Complete devastation is not enough to describe our pain and loss at the senseless murder of our son.
What we know:
- “Major incident” declared in Nottingham and six roads closed
- Police confirm two people found dead on Ilkeston Road just after 4am
- Another man also found dead on nearby Magdala Road in city centre
- Three others injured – one critically – after van tried to mow them down on Milton Street
- Witness tells of hearing gunshots before cops swarmed van on Maple Street, seeing a man arrested on suspicion of murder
- A second witness recalled the horrific moment she discovered the first victim of the attack
- Terror cops with assault rifles raid home on Ilkeston Road
- Cops reveal they’re not looking for anyone else in connection to tragedy
- It was revealed the Nottingham suspect is a foreign national with “mental health issues”
- Police say they believe the suspect stole the van before mowing people down
- Grace Kumar, 19, is named as second student victim
- Devastated loved ones say they’re “in bits“
- Victim’s family slam “senseless killing“
- Timeline reveals how horror unfolded
- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pays tribute to victims
“Barnaby Philip John Webber was a beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to.
“A talented and passionate cricketer, who was over the moon to have made selection to his university cricket team.”
Speaking outside the couple’s home near Taunton, Somerset, Barney’s granddad Phil said on Tuesday: “It’s tragic.
“Barney’s parents are in bits as you can imagine.
“Everyone knows the family locally. We’re trying to protect the family. We are still unsure what has gone on at the moment.
“Barney’s parents are with officers as we speak.”
It is understood Barney and Grace met through their shared love of hockey.
Grace, who played for England under-18s hockey, screamed for help as Barney was slashed by the knifeman 300 yards from their halls yesterday.
Her parents were too upset to speak at their £2million home.
Grace’s dad is thought to be Dr Sanjoy Kumar, who saved victims of a gang stabbing in Chingford, Essex, in 2009.
He helped move three knifed teens, aged 15, 16 and 17 to a makeshift trauma room in his surgery before 999 crews arrived.