‘I heard a scream ... there was blood pouring from her’
AN Arndale shopper described seeing the aftermath of a woman being stabbed in the attack.
She said: “I’d just gone for my morning coffee and was walking past Starbucks when I heard a woman scream.
“I span around and saw this guy who had a knife in his hand.
”It looked like he had stabbed her back. There was blood pouring from her and she just fell to the floor.
”As soon as I saw the knife I just ran as fast as I could and was warning others what happened.
”Everyone was looking down from the first floor and there was real panic, people screaming.
”The police were there in minutes and then we were evacuated.
“I can’t describe what it was like. It was like a nightmare.
“Like something out of a horror film.
“It was awful. I can’t get that image out of my head.” ‘
A manager of a store in the Arndale, who gave his name as Ben, told how his staff looked after customers while they were locked in his store during the stabbing incident.
“There was quite a lot of noise and shouting outside, but it was difficult to differentiate it as anything unusual,” he said.
“But, when we went to investigate, we saw there was a member of the Arndale security telling shops to close their shutters.
“I was very conscious to make a decision and take action to protect the people in the store.”
The manager says the 10 customers in the store included a woman who had come into contact with the suspect.
“She said he lunged at her. She said she didn’t see a knife but she felt it graze her as he tried to get it at her.”
The staff and customers remained in the store for around 40 minutes, but the manager said police and Arndale security staff were on the scene within seconds.
“I was really impressed by the response time by the police and Arndale security,” said Ben.