Three killed, three others injured in stabbing attack in Reading, UK

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

On Saturday evening in Forbury Gardens in Reading, Berkshire, UK shortly before 19:00 local time (1800 UTC), a mass stabbing killed three people and injured three others. A 25-year-old man was arrested by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of murder. Reports named him on Sunday as Reading resident and Libyan national Khairi Saadallah. Police also announced on Sunday morning they were treating it as a terrorist incident.

The Daily Telegraph cited a security source that mental health may be a factor in the attack. Witnesses, according to The Telegraph, said a man approached and attacked a group of middle-aged men, using a knife. Thames Valley Police soon arrived and detained the man, later identified as Khairi Saadallah. Saadallah came to the UK a number of years ago, after the Libyan Civil War. A counter terror police raid removed various items from Saadallah’s flat, amongst them reportedly a circular saw.

The head of the UK’s counter terror police, Neil Basu, on Sunday said the police found nothing inconsistent with the attacker acting alone. He also said there is no suggestion of specific increased threat towards people in crowded places from terrorists. A Black Lives Matter protest had taken place in Forbury Gardens a few hours before the attack, but Basu also stated this was not connected to the crime.