On 13 June 2023, three people were fatally stabbed and three others were injured when a van was driven into them in three connected attacks in Nottingham, a city in the East Midlands in the United Kingdom. The attacks were carried out in the early morning, beginning around 04:00 BST with two fatal stabbings of university students in the street, continuing with the fatal stabbing of a school caretaker whose van was stolen, and ending when the suspect was arrested by police after driving a van into people who were standing at a bus stop.
On 16 June 2023, the suspect was charged with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. On 17 June he was remanded in custody.
Attacks
At 04:00 BST on 13 June 2023, two 19-year-olds were found fatally stabbed on Ilkeston Road, Radford, Nottingham. Nottinghamshire Police received a request to attend at 04:05. An anonymous eyewitness told police that he had seen the two students being attacked, heard an awful scream, and saw a man dressed in black with a hood and rucksack fighting with some people. He watched the male victim collapse in the centre of the road, while the woman moved towards a house before disappearing by the side of the house. CCTV footage was later found apparently showing the suspect attempting to break into a bedroom at Seely Hirst House hostel on Mapperley Road, less than an hour after he had attacked the two students.
At 05:25, police were called to an incident in which a van had been driven into people waiting at a bus stop near the Theatre Royal in the city centre, in which three people were injured. The suspect then attempted to run over two other pedestrians in the Sherwood Street area; they were believed to have suffered minor injuries. A man was found stabbed to death on Magdala Road in the Mapperley Park area of the city, close to Seely House Hostel. At about 05:30, after a man approached police with a knife, he was tasered outside a convenience store in Bentinck Road, Forest Fields and was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Victims
The first two people killed in the attacks were 19-year-old first-year students at the University of Nottingham, one studying History and the other Medicine. The third victim was a 65-year-old man, who was the owner of the van, which had been stolen from him on his way to work as a school caretaker. All the injured victims were wounded after they were run into at a bus stop; one was in a critical condition. On 15 June, a Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said the man left in a critical condition was now stable.
Investigation
Police were said to be working closely with counter-terrorism police but keeping an "open mind" as to the motive. Police said they believed that the perpetrator had acted alone.
On 16 June 2023, the suspect was charged with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.
Suspect
The suspect is a 31-year-old dual Guinea-Bissau/Portuguese national. He has settled status through his Portuguese citizenship. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nottingham in 2022. The man came to the United Kingdom in 2007 with his parents and the family moved to Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where they were regular worshippers at the Calvary Church. He attended the Sir Thomas Picton High School and was academically successful.
He did not have a criminal record and was not known to the security services, but had a history of mental health issues. On 14 June, detectives applied to Nottingham Magistrates' Court and were granted another 36 hours to question him. On 17 June, the suspect, of no fixed address, made his first appearance in court and was remanded in custody.
On 20 June, the suspect appeared in court for a second time, at Nottingham Crown Court, when a provisional trial date was set for 12 January 2024. He will enter pleas to the six charges in September 2023.
Aftermath
On the evening of 13 June 2023, a vigil for the victims was held at St Peter's Church on St Peter's Square in the city centre, led by the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, Paul Williams. Hundreds of students attended the vigil, leaving flowers and lighting candles for the victims. A moment of silence was held before the County Championship cricket match between Essex and Somerset, and the flag was flown at half mast with players wearing black armbands.