A lone assailant is on the run in Birmingham after stabbing eight people, one of them fatally, at four separate locations over a two-hour period early on Sunday in what police described as “a major incident”.
Five victims were taken to the major trauma centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which saved the life of Malala Yousafzai, then 15, after she had been shot by the Taliban in Pakistan in October 2012. Three of those admitted had suffered critical injuries and a man died shortly after arrival. Two other patients with non-life-threatening injuries were taken to the city’s Heartlands Hospital. An eighth patient with minor injuries did not need treatment from paramedics.
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner David Jamieson said a rise in violence was “almost inevitable” due to the pandemic.
He told reporters: “I have been saying for some time, in the context of Covid-19, that a lot of the pent-up feelings people have, and not being able to get out, combined with people who are now unsure about their future and jobs; it was almost inevitable that we would see a growth in violence.
“I’m not saying that this is directly related to that, but nevertheless we are seeing now a growth of violence among younger people, particularly younger males. We’re seeing that growing across the region. My fear is that if we don’t address that and some of the underlying problems with some urgency, then we could see that grow.”
Knife crime, which declined sharply when the lockdown was rigorous, is picking up again with its relaxation. There were seven stabbings in London on Saturday.
On the stabbings in Birmingham, a statement released by West Midlands police said: “Detectives are following a number of lines of inquiry and we’ve increased our uniformed and armed response in the city. We’re urging anyone who witnessed anything or anyone who has any CCTV or mobile phone footage to get in contact as soon as possible, as the information you have may be crucial to our investigation.”
The first incident was at Constitution Hill where the first stabbing happened at 12:30am. It was followed by events at Livery Street, Irving Street and finally at Hurst Street, where the “Gay Village” meets the Chinese Quarter.
One eyewitness, David Nash, director of operations at the Village Inn in Hurst Street, who was running the bar on Saturday night, said: “We knew about it sometime between 2am and 2.15am when a guy — we presume it’s a guy —with a black hoodie was walking down Hurst Street away from the Hippodrome towards Sherlock Street, the lower end of Hurst Street — and somebody shouted, ‘Stop him he’s just stabbed somebody’.
“And then this person took off into the night down Hurst Street and then of course you can’t quite work out what had gone on.”
The area was soon “engulfed” with emergency service vehicles.
Chief superintendent Steve Graham said “unfortunately the suspect wasn’t caught and still hasn’t been”.
He added: “Already we’ve got people going down drains, we’ve got that level of detailed searches taking place which will hopefully reassure the people that we are doing everything we can do to trace the offender.”
He said a number of descriptions had come in of the suspect but the police were not releasing anything at this time, asking the public to come forward with any information or footage they had.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “All my thoughts are with those affected by the terrible incident.”
Home secretary Priti Patel commented: “Our emergency services are working hard to find whoever is responsible and bring them to justice.”
Shabana Mahmood, the Pakistani-origin Labour member for Birmingham Ladywood, where the fatal stabbing took place, said: “It’s of concern to me — and I know it will be worrying everybody else in the city as well. I know that they have drafted in additional police officers. I know that there are officers — both armed and unarmed — across the city centre.”
