TRAGIC 'ATTACK'
THREE people are dead and a man is in custody after a tragedy in Nottingham - here's the timeline of how it unfolded.
The alleged attacks started around 4am on Tuesday on Ilkeston Road, Nottingham, with police announcing a "major incident" was taking place around 7am.
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In the hours that followed, they revealed three people were dead, another was fighting for his life and two were injured.
Two of the victims were Barnaby Webber and Grace Kumar, both 19, who were students at the University of Nottingham.
A third man, Ian Coates, a school caretaker, was believed to be knifed to death by a 31-year-old man who then stole his van and attempted to mow down three pedestrians.
The man was arrested on suspicion of murder and he remains in police custody.
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'TWO DEAD'
One witness claimed he heard a "blood-curdling scream" and a young woman shrieking for help on Ilkeston Road around 4am.
The onlooker said he peered out his window to see a man dressed in black stabbing a young man, before attacking the woman.
The victims were understood to have been students Barnaby and Grace.
The witness said he rushed to phone 999 and watched emergency services scramble to the central city area in the minutes that followed.
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Police said on Wednesday a call was made to them at 4.04am and they quickly attended before finding Barnaby and Grace in the street unresponsive.
A probe has now revealed a man matching the description of the suspect tried to break into a supported living complex in Mapperley Road but was punched back by a resident.
The Sun have now obtained exclusive footage of this incident, which happened at 4.08am but was reported to cops at the time.
Police believe the suspect then went to Magdala Road in the north of the city, where he is believed to have stabbed van owner Ian Coates to death.
A member of the public called the police, who attended and found the school caretaker dead at the scene.
After killing Ian, the suspect stole the white Vauxhall Vivara and tried to run over three people at Milton Street- leaving one man in a critical condition with two with minor injuries.
VAN 'MOWS PEOPLE DOWN'
Lynn Haggitt, who saw the Vivaro pull up beside her around 5.30am, told Channel 4 News: “The man in the driver’s seat looked in his mirror and saw the police car behind him.
“The white van then quickened up to the corner of the street and went into two people.
"He went straight into them and didn’t even bother to turn.
“A lady ended up on the kerb and then he backed up and sped up Parliament Street with the police cars following him."
Local Frances Bearder said she helped the two people knocked down by the van near the Theatre Royal.
She told The Sun: "I didn't notice anything until I heard the collision and turned around.
"I heard a sound like a vehicle hitting something, then screaming so turned around and saw the two people on the road.
"Police arrived very quickly as did the ambulance. The van left the scene.
"I believe police were behind the van that hit the people, then I ran over to the people after they were hit, the police got out to help as well.
"It happened so quickly, my focus was the people on the floor."
'GUNSHOTS' BEFORE ARREST
Police managed to detain the suspect by using a taser when he abandoned the van and approached officers with a knife on Maple Street.
University student Kane Brady claimed he heard gunshots around 5.30am before seeing a man in a van arrested.
Kane told GB news: "We woke up to shouts of armed police and what sounded like some very loud, large commotion and heard loads of bangs.
"It was so loud it sounded like gunshots.
"We saw a man being dragged out of a van. We saw him being tasered.
What we know:
- "Major incident" declared in Nottingham and six roads closed
- Police confirm two people found dead on Ilkeston Road just after 4am
- Another man also found dead on nearby Magdala Road in city centre
- Three others injured - one critically - after van tried to mow them down on Milton Street
- Witness tells of hearing gunshots before cops swarmed van on Maple Street, seeing a man arrested on suspicion of murder
- A second witness recalled the horrific moment she discovered the first victim of the attack
- Terror cops with assault rifles raid home on Ilkeston Road
- Cops reveal they're not looking for anyone else in connection to tragedy
- It was revealed the Nottingham suspect is a foreign national with "mental health issues"
- Police say they believe the suspect stole the van before mowing people down
- Grace Kumar, 19, is named as second student victim
- Devastated loved ones say they're "in bits"
- Victim's family slam "senseless killing"
- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pays tribute to victims
"We saw the police pinning him down as well. It was quite a scary thing to wake up to so early on in the morning."
A second call was made to 999 at 5.25 at Milton Street, where the caller said people had been hit by a van.
Paramedics arrived by 5.36am.
An East Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "In response to all three incidents, we sent a number of ambulance resources to the scene including ambulance cars, double-crewed ambulances, our hazardous area response team, a specialist practitioner, tactical managers, and we were supported on scene by medics and colleagues from the air ambulance.
"EMAS transported five patients to hospital via land ambulance."
Photos of the scene two cracks in the van's windscreen, with cops swarming around a person nearby.
Kane claimed cops seized a knife which was the size of A4 paper from the van, adding: "It was even bigger than that. It was a massive knife."
Kane said of the van: "The whole front of the van is in absolute bits. There's quite a lot of dents and the glass is all shattered and smashed."
'MAJOR INCIDENT'
Around 7am Nottinghamshire Police took to social media to warn the public that six city roads were closed.
And at 1pm, armed terror cops raided a home on the same street Barnaby and Grace were discovered.
At around 3pm, police revealed they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the killings and we keeping an "open mind" about the suspect's motive.
'SENSELESS MURDER'
A vigil was held in Nottingham around 5pm, with distraught friends and family alike seen laying flowers as they wiped away tears.
By 6pm, Barnaby had been confirmed as a victim as his grandfather opened up about his heartache.
Just three hours later hockey-loving Grace was confirmed as the second victim.
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On Wednesday morning it was revealed the attacker was a West African suspected to have a history of mental health problems.
At 8am, a little over 24 hours after Barnaby was horrifically killed, his parents slammed his "senseless murder".
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