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British police have said a 32-year-old man arrested after the mass stabbing of passengers on a train in Cambridgeshire is now the only suspect in the case, adding there was “nothing to suggest” it was a terrorist incident.
The statement came on Sunday evening after police said that the man was from Peterborough, where he boarded the train, and remains in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. The suspect is a British national born in the UK.
British Transport Police added that it had released a 35-year-old man from London who was also arrested at the scene.
“It was reported in good faith to officers responding to the incident that he was involved in the attack, and following enquiries we can confirm that he was not involved,” the police said.
A knife was recovered by officers at the scene.
The police added that of 11 people initially admitted to hospital, five had now been discharged, but one — a rail staff member who sought to stop the attacker — remained in a life-threatening condition. On Saturday night nine were initially in a life-threatening condition, BTP said at the time.
“Detectives have reviewed the CCTV from the train and it is clear his actions were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved many people’s lives,” the police said.
Deputy chief constable Stuart Cundy added that the police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack. He said that specialist detectives were “looking into the background of the suspect we have in custody and the events that led up to the attack”.
Superintendent John Loveless said earlier that while Counter Terrorism Policing had initially supported BTP’s investigation, “at this stage there is nothing to suggest this is a terrorist incident”.
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The suspect has not yet been named, as is common in the UK before being charged with an offence.
Police can normally hold a suspect for up to 24 hours without charge, but this can be extended up to 36 hours for serious offences and up to 96 hours with the permission of a magistrate.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, defence secretary John Healey said the attack “reflects a period of really increasing pressure on our country and uncertainty more widely in the world — a new era of threat if you like”.
The transport police said there had been no fatalities in the attack, which occurred on the 6.25pm train from Doncaster to London King’s Cross. Video posted online showed armed police rushing towards the train after it stopped at Huntingdon, about 60 miles north of London.
The force said it had been called at 7.42pm to reports of a “multiple stabbing”. It added that armed police from the Cambridgeshire force had boarded the train within eight minutes of the first call and arrested the two suspects.
Saturday’s attack was the second multiple stabbing in the UK within a week. A 49-year-old man was killed and a 45-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy were injured on Monday in a knife attack in Uxbridge, north-west London. The man arrested for the attack, Safi Dawood, is a refugee from Afghanistan who arrived in the UK in 2020.
It also came just under a month after Jihad al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, launched a car and knife attack on a synagogue in Manchester during Yom Kippur services. The attack ended in the deaths of two worshippers and the shooting dead of Shamie by police.
The transport police said there would be a “high visibility presence of police officers” on trains and at stations on Sunday to “reassure the public and respond to any concerns”.
Government officials said this surge in police on the rail network would last at least several days. As well as a visible presence on LNER routes it will also focus on major terminals including London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester.
London North Eastern Railway issued a “do not travel” notice shortly before 6am on Sunday, warning that some services would be delayed or cancelled. It said on Sunday afternoon that they “expect to run a normal service” on Monday.
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