Nottingham: Three killed, three injured in city centre attacks- and another three injured – in connected “horrific and tragic”
Two people, believed to have been stabbed, were found dead by police in Ilkeston Road just after 04:00 BST.
Officers were then called to Milton Street where a van had attempted to run over three people.
Police, who have arrested a man on suspicion of murder, later found a man dead in Magdala Road.
The 31-year-old is currently in custody and the city centre has been locked down.
Police said the three people injured in the van attack in Milton Street were being treated in hospital.
Warning: People may find some of the details in the story upsetting
Chief Constable Kate Meynell, from Nottinghamshire Police, said the force believed all three incidents were linked.
“This is an horrific and tragic incident which has claimed the lives of three people,” she said.
“This investigation is at its early stages and a team of detectives is working to establish exactly what has happened.
“We ask the public to be patient while inquiries continue.”
An eyewitness told the BBC he witnessed a young man and young woman being stabbed in Ilkeston Road, close to the junction with Bright Street, at about 04:00.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he heard “awful, blood-curdling screams” and saw a man dressed in black, with a hood and rucksack, “grappling with some people”.
“It was a girl, and a man or boy she was with – they looked quite young,” he said.
“She was screaming ‘help!’ I just wish I’d shouted something out of the window to unnerve the assailant.
“I saw him stab the lad first and then the woman. It was repeated stabbing – four or five times. The lad collapsed in the middle of the road.
“The girl stumbled towards a house and didn’t move. The next minute she had disappeared down the side of a house, and that’s where they found her.”
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