The Reading knife attacker who killed three people and seriously injured three others in a park was brought down by a lone police officer who "rugby tackled him to the ground", witnesses have said.
The officer took action after seeing the suspected attacker attempt to flee the scene in Forbury Gardens, a source told the Sunday Mirror.
“A man pulled a knife and started attacking people at random in Reading, near the Crown Court. It is thought there was one attacker," the source said.
"It appeared the attack was stopped when a lone sergeant, who responded when the alarm was raised, ran to the scene, saw the attacker running away with a knife and rugby tackled him to the ground.”
Thames Valley Police have said a 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene of the attack, which took place at about 7pm on Saturday.
The individual remains in custody, and the force have said the incident is now being treated as a terror attack.
A security source told the Press Association news agency the arrested man was a Libyan national, though this was yet to be confirmed by officials.
Meanwhile, a second witness of the incident claimed the attacker “shouted unintelligible words” before assaulting multiple groups of people.
Lawrence Wort, 20, who said he was around 10 metres from the incident, added that when the suspect "realised everyone was starting to run, he ran out the park".
Home Secretary Priti Patel has condemned the attack as "senseless", while Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “My thoughts are with all of those affected by the appalling incident in Reading and my thanks to the emergency services on the scene."
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer meanwhile described the stabbings as “very concerning”.
He urged people to listen to the National Police Chiefs’ Council and not share footage of the incident that has been circulated online.
Sir Keir tweeted: “Very concerning reports from Reading. Thank you to the police and other emergency service personnel responding."
Police have urged people to stay away from the area as officers conduct their investigation, which has seen a large part of central Reading cordoned off.
The cordon is expected to remain in place for some time.
