Four men, including a police officer, have been stabbed at a mosque in Birmingham, UK. Police have taken a 32-year-old man into custody in connection with the attacks that left four victims in hospital.
Officers arrived at the scene responding to reports of the first
three attacks at 11pm local time (22:00 GMT). One of the officers
subsequently sustained stab injuries while apprehending the
suspect.
When police arrived on the scene, the suspect was found in a side
room with what was described as a “sizable knife.” When
challenged, he charged one of the two police officers.
The officer who suffered injuries in the assault fired a taser at
the assailant to no effect. Despite sustaining serious injuries,
the 31-year-old officer helped detained the attacker with the aid
of a female officer.
Police quickly cordoned off the area around the mosque in the
Ward End neighborhood in the East of Birmingham.
Among the victims were a 28-year-old man who had suffered
multiple stab wounds and a 36-year-old man who was stabbed once
in the thigh. The third victim suffered a hand injury and is now
recovering at home. The wounded officer sustained stab wounds to
his stomach and chest, and was undergoing surgery on Sunday.
"The work of those officers was heroic and the work of the
some of the people in the mosque assisting those officers was
also heroic," the Guardian cites Chief Superintendent Alex
Murray as saying.
The suspect, a 32-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of
attempted murder, was transferred to a secure mental health
facility on Sunday after it was determined he was unfit to be
interviewed by police.
Police said the suspect was believed to be of Somali descent and
had not previously visited the mosque. The incident transpired
during the final prayer session of the evening.
Murray said the motivation for Saturday’s attack remained unknown, though there was currently no evidence it was a hate crime or connected to any other incidents.
Officers were dispatched to the neighborhood around the mosque in an attempt to "reassure local people."
UK Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation has already responded to the attacks, expressing “deep concern” for the victims and their families.
"It is too early to speculate on the circumstances of the
stabbings, but we must be clear there should be no place for this
sort of violence in our country,” said a spokesman for the group,
adding that "there will obviously be people who will try to take
advantage of this tragedy but we must not allow them to
succeed."
The news comes less than a month after the fatal Woolwich
stabbing of UK soldier Lee Rigby, 25, in South-East London,
allegedly by Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22.
The murderers were motivated by anti-Western sentiments and
claimed the attack to be revenge for the plight of Muslims across
the world.