Glasgow: Eyewitnesses describe aftermath of stabbing attack in city centre

An eyewitness has described seeing people “bloodied” and being taken out of a Glasgow hotel on stretchers after several were injured in a stabbing attack.

Louisa, who was in a building in West George Street, told Sky News: “I saw people being treated with blood on the ground.

“I saw people running out of the hotel with the police shouting ‘put your hands up, put your hands up, come out’.”

Six were injured in the incident, which unfolded at the Park Inn hotel in the city centre at around 1pm, Police Scotland said.

A male suspect was shot dead by police. An officer was stabbed while dealing with the attacker and is in a “critical but stable” condition in hospital.

A man called John was on the third floor of the hotel when he says he rushed downstairs and saw two receptionists had been stabbed.

He said: “One receptionist had been stabbed behind the receptionist desk.

“When I went to the entrance I saw another receptionist was fighting for his life and had been stabbed. There were two police officers there assisting him.”

Matthew Nesbitt, who lives on the fourth floor of a nearby building, said he came down and saw a man bleeding on the steps outside the hotel.

He told Sky News: “I saw one gentleman with his life lost. It’s not something you expect to see on a Friday afternoon.

“You don’t expect it to happen right outside your building. It’s more shocking than anything.”

Describing the scene, Louisa added: “There were police cars, ambulances all over the street and they cordoned it off.

“Police were shouting to people in other buildings near the Park Inn hotel to stay inside and not come into the street. I saw at least three people injured and they were taken away in ambulances.

“There were quite a number of people coming out with their hands up, running down the steps of the hotel. I saw people with blood on them, all over the ground.”

A man called Stuart, who lives in a flat opposite the hotel told Sky News he saw armed police run inside and emerge half an hour later carrying a man.

He said: “Police ran into the hotel and were in there for some time. After half an hour or so, so closer to 3pm, they appeared to pull someone out, he was wearing plain clothes and they were carrying him.”

Someone else also walked out of the hotel at the same time, he added.

Stuart said he first heard police shouting at people in a bid to evacuate the hotel, a nearby bus and some cars parked close by.

He said: “There was a lot of urgency to push people back.”

Craig Milroy saw the aftermath of the incident from an office building nearby. He said he saw a “man lying on the ground”, describing him as having “no shoes on”.

“He was on the ground with someone holding his side – I don’t know if it was a bullet wound, a stab wound, or what it was,” he added.

Mr Milroy said he saw four people being taken away in ambulances.

Muhammad Sultan, a manager of a nearby Indian restaurant, was at work when he heard people screaming.

He told Sky News: “There was lots of noise and I saw people running, so I looked outside of the front door.

“I saw there was a man who had been stabbed and there was loads of blood on the ground around him. It was a really disturbing image.

“I saw one of the police officers was injured as well and he was taken away by the emergency services when they arrived.”

He added: “The police told us to stay inside for our own safety. This is the first time that this has happened in my city, I’ve never encountered something like this before in Glasgow.

“I’m really shocked about what’s happened. I feel really sorry for the victims – I wish there was something I could’ve done for them.”

Another witness, who gave their name as Reilly, told Sky News they saw someone “looking unconscious” and being taken away in an ambulance.

They said they saw a police officer asking the hotel manager for key cards and access to CCTV, adding: “He was very quiet, just handed over the keys and said there was another manager with more access. I think he was a little in shock.”

Armed police have sealed off the road and paramedics in hazmat suits were seen treating people on a blood-stained pavement, witnesses said.

(c) Sky News 2020: Glasgow: Eyewitnesses describe aftermath of stabbing attack in city centre