Community shock as women hurt in Leeds attack involving crossbow

A community is in “shock” after two women were seriously injured in an attack involving a crossbow in Leeds.

Counter-terrorism police are investigating the incident, which happened on Otley Road, in the Headingley area, at about 14:47 BST yesterday.

Three people were found injured and taken to hospital – including the suspected attacker – on the popular Otley Run pub crawl route.

A 38-year-old man who suffered a “self-inflicted injury” was arrested and two weapons – a crossbow and a firearm – were recovered from the scene.

Headingley resident Vasileios Balampanos described seeing the aftermath of what had happened on Saturday.

“When I arrived, I drove down St Anne’s Road and there were cordons and quite a few police cars,” he said.

“I walked further down to have a look and there were a couple of ambulances.”

He said he saw somebody being treated by paramedics further up Otley Road and said he saw “a couple of distressed individuals, students mostly, talking about somebody being hurt”.

Mr Balampanos added the ambulance then left the scene with blue lights on and the area was cordoned off.

“It was quite scary,” he said.

“Generally, this is a quiet area but we have plenty of people doing the Otley Run and going to the pub. It can get busy sometimes.”

Headingley councillor Abdul Hannan said his thoughts were with the victims and said the council was working closely with the police and reassuring the community.

“It’s horrific,” he said.

“There is a lot of footfall in that area, it is a busy stretch, especially on a Saturday.

“It is a tragedy what has taken place.”

The Church of England has also issued a response to the attack, thanking emergency services and people who stayed at the scene to support victims.

The Right Reverend Arun Arora, the Bishop of Kirkstall, who oversees the City of Leeds for the Church of England, said: “There is an understandable sense of shock and numbness for people hearing news of Saturday’s events.

“Prayers were offered in church services this morning close to where the attack occurred and space was made in chapels for silent prayer following the services.

“We will continue to pray for those who were injured in the attack and those who witnessed it.”

Det Ch Supt James Dunkerley said on Saturday there was no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved in the attack and they “were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident”.

A Counter Terrorism Policing North East spokesperson added extensive inquiries were continuing to establish “the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation”.

West Yorkshire’s Assistant Chief Constable Carl Galvin also said on Saturday: “Clearly this has been a shocking incident and we fully realise the concern it has caused.

“Due to the enquiry being active we are limited in what we can say, but I do want to reassure residents that everything possible is being done to investigate and understand what took place.”