Residents across the city have shared their devastation following a series of deadly and horrific attacks in Nottingham earlier this week. On Tuesday, June 13, two students and a 65 year old man were killed, while three others were hit by a van in the city centre.
The suspect is alleged to have stabbed Grace Kumar and Barnaby Webber on Ilkeston Road before attempting to break into a homeless hostel on Mapperley Road. The suspect is then understood to have stabbed Ian Coates on Magdala Road before stealing his van.
It has been reported that the suspect then attempted to run over a man in the Milton Street area, who remains in a serious condition in hospital. He then tried to run over two other pedestrians in the Sherwood Street area who are believed to have suffered minor injuries.
What three words would you use to describe Nottinghamshire? Let us know
A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. One of those hit by the van on Milton Street, Wayne Birkett, was on his way to work when he was hit by the vehicle.
The 58-year-old had got of the bus a stop earlier so that he could walk to work. Following what has happened residents across the city have shared an outpouring of love towards the victims of the attacks and wished Wayne a speedy recovery.
Speaking about what happened, 999 operator, Harroun Kinoucha, 25, of Nottingham, said: "I think as a community it's left us a bit wary about safety, especially coming to and from into town. I think prior to that it felt like a safe community, but it's put us a bit on edge, especially at night as it happened in the early hours of the morning."
Harroun added that the incident has made himself and others want to "try and get closer with family" and to "treasure every moment."
A recently retired 68-year-old explained she was acting as an exams invigilator that morning. She said: "It's very sad, and it does upset me to hear about it and to see it on the news.
"It is horrendous that someone like that was out and about." She went on to say that there is not enough support or resources in the mental health sector.
She added that the exams were delayed at the school she was working at due to the incident and it was extra stress for the students.
Claire Nowicki, 43, of Nottingham, has been a bus driver for 17 years. She said: "I'm a driver so we had all the disruption and stuff.
"They were just normal people going about their normal day. It's not even a targeted thing, initially when I heard about it I thought it was gang related but everyone seems to be unknown to this guy that's gone off the rails.
"It's horrible, but I think on the day passengers and people around town were brilliant. They were all kind of in the same boat."
Claire described the city centre as "chaos" and explained all the buses were diverted near Old Market Square to avoid Milton Street. Speaking about the victims, she said: "It was students going home after a night out, that man was going to work and the people that got hit by the van, they were just on their way to work.
"You don't expect to say bye to your family and then something like this. It's scary as then you're thinking what could have happened. It could have been worse, I'm glad the police have caught him."
Claire has also offered her "best wishes" for their recovery of those hit by the van. A 50 year old sports worker said: "I think it's horrible and tragic, but it's life, you can just be waiting for a bus and something like that happens.
"It can happen anywhere. It's just the wrong person wrong time." A retired 65 year old who did not wish to be named said: "I'm shocked, it's really upsetting.
"The two youngsters in university that have died and the guy that was 65 and the people that got knocked down. It's awful."
Retired, John Ridley, 74, of London, travelled to Nottingham on Thursday, June 15, for a tennis match. He said: "I've actually come up from London today to watch the tennis and I'm the sort of person that does follow the news so I knew about what had happened.
"I was just talking to two ladies on the tram about it from Nottingham, who were quite distraught about it." John described the city as having a clear feeling of "sadness."
He explained: "People can relate to all of them, the students and the other man. It is just the random nature of it that I think has shocked most people."
A retired man from Cotgrave in his 70s said: "It was a tragic and unfortunate accident. I think we are all concerned."
READ NEXT:
