Nottingham resident Ross Murphy spoke to GB News’ Home and Security Editor, Mark White, about witnessing the events yesterday and Nottingham’s wider problem with crime.
Two teenage students were among three killed in a horrific attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning with a 31-year-old suspect arrested on suspicion of murder.
Police say a van was then stolen from one of the victims and used to run over three people on Milton Street, leaving one man in a critical condition in hospital.
Recalling the early morning moments immediately following the van attack, Ross Murphy told the GB News reporter on the ground: “I heard a loud bang. I thought nothing of it really, and there's plenty of people about this time in the morning.
The incident is not currently being treated as terror relatedPA/GB News“I walked towards McDonald's for a quick coffee, as I usually do before I go to the gym and I saw somebody lying half off the road and pavement opposite McDonald's and still thought nothing of it because there's a lot of people like beggars etc in this area in the morning.
“I thought somebody just collapsed.”
On the response from emergency services, former taxi driver Murphy said: “It was 10 minutes before the police got here and then all of a sudden they got cordons up.
“There's a lady police woman with a machine gun. Then of course we caught on that there was more to it.”
The events that unfolded yesterday shocked a nation, but Murphy believes that it was part of a wider social problem in Nottingham.
Murphy said: There's a lot of trouble in this area… I know the police are understaffed, I know that. And it's hard to cope here, but there's a murder every two or three weeks in this area.
“I won't say it shocked me, you know, because I did 20 odd years taxi driving and a lot on nights and you get used to incidents.
“I did hear yesterday, Nottingham’s 51 per cent above the normal crime rate in this country. So nothing much shocks me around here.”
A vigil was held at St Peter's Church in NottinghamPAThe overall crime rate in Nottingham in 2022 was 125 crimes per 1,000, which is 51 per cent higher than the rate in Nottinghamshire as a whole.
Police are said to be keeping an "open mind" over the motive of a city attack, but at this time believe there is no one else outstanding in connection with the incidents.
GB News understands the 31-year-old suspect is a West African migrant with a history of violence.
Barnaby's parents, David and Emma Webber, have released a statement on the "complete devastation" over the "senseless murder" of their "beautiful, brilliant, bright" son.
Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: “My thoughts are with all the families affected by this shocking incident, and we will be working extremely hard to understand exactly what has happened.
“We are at the early stages of the investigation and need to determine the motives behind these attacks and will keep the public updated as soon as we are able to say more.
“We are keeping an open mind as we investigate the circumstances surrounding these incidents and are working alongside Counter Terrorism Policing to establish the facts – as we would normally do in these types of circumstances.
“We do have a man in custody who has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Currently, we do not believe there is anyone else involved in this incident."