Burnley double stabbing not 'terrorist incident' police say

Police have confirmed that today's double stabbing in Burnley is not being treated as a terrorist incident.
By Dominic Collis
Published 2nd Dec 2020, 17:09 BST
Updated 2nd Dec 2020, 17:14 BST
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Police were called at about 9-30am today to a report of a stabbing inside the Marks and Spencer store on St James's Street in the town.

Two people received stab injuries which are thankfully not thought to be life threatening at this time. They were taken to hospital for treatment.

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The incident is not being treated as a terrorist incident, police have just confirmed.

A police CSI officer at the sceneA police CSI officer at the scene
A police CSI officer at the scene

The victims are a member of staff at the store aged in her 40s and a member of the public aged in her 60s.

The attacker was detained by members of the public and store staff.

A 57-year-old local man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is currently in custody. A knife has been recovered.

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Supt Stasia Osiowy, of East Police, said: “We recognise that this incident will have caused a great deal of concern in the community and I would like to reassure people that we have a dedicated team of officers and staff carrying out enquiries and a number of extra patrols in the town centre as reassurance.

The scene in St James's Street following the stabbingThe scene in St James's Street following the stabbing
The scene in St James's Street following the stabbing

“We have arrested a man and we will be speaking to him in due course as part of our on-going investigation. This is not being treated as a terrorism incident but due to some comments made at the scene counter terrorism detectives will be leading on the investigation.

“At this time we are keeping an open mind as to motivation but what I can say is that we are considering the mental health background of the man we have arrested.

“I would like to appeal to members of the public who may have seen or filmed this morning’s incident, or who have information which could assist, to get in touch with us.

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“I would like to thank those members of the public who acted very quickly, and without regard to their own safety, this morning in order to detain the attacker. Without their brave actions this incident, while serious, could have been so much worse.”

Anyone with information or video footage should contact police on 101 quoting log 0313 of December 2nd or independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.