A man who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after pedestrians were struck by a car in Derby continues to be questioned today.
3:30 pm Sunday – The cordon put in place following the incident in Friar Gate has been lifted. All businesses are able to reopen, vehicles are able to be recovered, and residents are able to return to their homes.
Seven people were injured – some seriously – when they were hit by a black Suzuki Swift in Friar Gate at about 9.30pm on Saturday 28 March.
All seven were taken to hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
A 36-year-old Derby man, who is originally from India but had lived in the UK for a number of years, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in police custody.
Derbyshire detectives are leading the investigation with the support of Counter Terrorism Policing colleagues, which is common practice for an incident of this nature, and are keeping an open mind about the potential motives.
Although counter terrorism officers are assisting us with those early investigations, this does not mean the incident is currently being treated as terrorism.
Chief Superintendent Emma Aldred, who leads policing in the city, said: “Firstly I would like to send my best wishes to the people who were injured, their friends and families, and to the public who witnessed what will have been a very traumatic thing to see.
“I know this incident will have sent shockwaves through our communities but I would like to reassure people that we have a dedicated team of detectives working on it.
“Thanks to the fast actions of officers, working on eyewitness information from the public, we were able to quickly arrest the suspect in the city just a few minutes after the incident took place.
“I also want to thank the members of the public and staff from local businesses in Friar Gate, who helped officers with first aid in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
“We will provide updates to the public as quickly as we can, but sometimes those updates take a bit of time due to the complexity of the incident we are dealing with.
“I’d also like to thank business owners, their staff, and people whose cars are stuck within the cordon for their patience while we continue our work at the scene.”
Anyone with information that could help officers with their investigation should contact 101 quoting incident 1131 of March 28.
• Serious injuries reported after car strikes pedestrians in Derby city centre
• Police statement after seven injured in Derby city centre incident – driver arrested
