A 27-year-old man has been arrested over a series of ‘random’ knife attacks in Birmingham city centre in the early hours of Sunday morning.
He was arrested on at an address in Selly Oak area at around 4am today after a manhunt was launched to find the lone knifeman.
The suspect is accused of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, West Midlands Police said.
Armed police remained on the streets yesterday to reassure members of the public following the 90 minute rampage, which began shortly after midnight.
Investigators said the attacks did not appear to be gang or terror related and that there was no evidence of hate crime.
The force say a 23-year-old man suffered fatal injuries after being stabbed in what they believe was a ‘random attack’.
A man and a woman, aged 19 and 32, suffered serious stab wounds and remain in hospital in a critical condition. Five other people, aged between 23 and 33, were less seriously hurt.
Savvas Sfrantzis, who owns Mykonos bar and grill in Hurst Street, said he witnessed a woman being repeatedly stabbed, just across the street, after he was alerted by her screams.
He said: ‘I looked at him, facing him, and I can see he had a blade, small, not very big, and he was stabbing her in the neck.’
He described how the attacker was ‘so cold’, walking calmly away and ‘smirking’, while other bar staff bravely tried to follow him.
Appearing on Sky News this morning, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson was grilled over the knifeman was able to ‘move freely’ around the city centre for nearly two hours.
He said: ‘Well of course there will be a debrief after this and we’ll look to any lessons learned, but you have to appreciate where I’m standing now, very near to one of the crimes, is that these streets were packed, of course, in the early hours of Sunday morning, it wasn’t as quiet as it is now.
‘It seems that he was able to slip away into the crowds without being noticed.’
Birmingham Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Steve Graham, said: ‘Officers worked through yesterday and into the early hours of this morning in a bid to trace the man we believe responsible for these terrible crimes.
‘We issued CCTV footage of the suspect and had a strong response from the public. I’d like to thank everyone who shared our appeal and who provided information to the investigation.
‘One line of enquiry ultimately led us to an address in the Selly Oak area this morning where a man was arrested.
‘Clearly this is a crucial development but our investigation continues. We still need to speak to any witnesses who saw what happened who’ve not yet spoken to us, or anyone who may have video footage or photos of the incidents or the attacker.
‘We have a hotline number and a dedicated web page where you can submit information, photos and videos.’
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