Three people were killed on Saturday night in Forbury Gardens, a public park in the center of Reading, UK, following a Black Lives Matter march, when a 25-year-old suspect went on a stabbing rampage targeting a group of people. Three others were injured.
The BBC reports: “An eyewitness described how an individual in the park ‘suddenly shouted some unintelligible words and went round a large group trying to stab them’. Khairi Saadallah, a 25-year-old man who lived locally, was arrested on Saturday and remains in custody. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said a 25-year-old man from Reading, who was arrested initially on suspicion of murder on Saturday, has now been re-arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer adds: “One eyewitness, Lawrence Wort, told the BBC that groups of people were drinking and enjoying the park when a man suddenly started shouting unintelligible words. Holding a ‘massive’ knife that he said was at least five inches long, he darted around a circle of about eight to 10 people, stabbing them in and around their necks. The assailant headed to another group, where Wort was sitting. Wort quickly got up and ran, along with lots of others.”
The Washington Post reports: “Joe Ritchie-Bennett, 39, a native of northeast Philadelphia, was named by his family on Monday as one of three people who died in the attack in a park in Reading, 40 miles west of London. Authorities are describing it as a terrorist action. … His best friend since the fourth grade, Danielle Gayda, 39, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that her friend had lost his husband, Ian Bennett, to cancer six years ago.”
It’s not clear yet how a second named victim, James Furlong of Wokingham, UK, identified, but GSN notes that his social media profiles contain a rainbow flag over his name.
The third victim has not been named.
