‘Hungry’ man shot dead in hotel
A man was shot dead by police yesterday after six people, including an officer, were stabbed at a hotel housing asylum-seekers.
Bloodied victims were found on the floor of the Park Inn Hotel, in Glasgow city centre, which has been used by the authorities during the coronavirus pandemic. A community activist said that the attacker was an asylum-seeker from Sudan who had been complaining that he was ‘‘very hungry’’ after having been rehoused in the hotel.
A 42-year-old police officer, believed to be one of the first to respond to the incident, was in a critical but stable condition in hospital. The other male victims were aged 17, 18, 20, 38 and 53. Witnesses said that they included the hotel receptionist and a maintenance worker.
The national counterterrorism policing command assessed the incident and ruled out terrorism at this stage. Police Scotland will investigate the attack.
The Kurdish Scottish Association confirmed that about 100 asylum-seekers were staying at the Park Inn. The 91-room hotel is one of six in Glasgow that have been used as accommodation for asylum-seekers during the pandemic.
Ako Zada, a Kurdish activist, told The Daily Telegraph: ‘‘The attacker was a Sudanese asylumseeker and he’d been telling his friends that he was very hungry in the hotel. In the past few days he was threatening people and it was reported to the staff the day before. These people had been living in their houses but were moved into hotels during the pandemic. Their money for buying food and essentials was stopped and [instead] they were fed three times a day but people were complaining at getting the same spaghetti and macaroni cheese all the time. It wasn’t culturally appropriate for them.
‘‘It was not very hygienic and to have their money taken away was completely humiliating and very damaging for their mental health. Sitting in a hotel for three months was a big issue – they said it was like being in prison.’’
Steve Johnson, an assistant