Terror police brought in after 'crossbow and firearms' incident leaves three injured

Police were called after a man was seen with weapons and they found three people with injuries

Terror police have been called in after an incident in which three people were injured. Police were called to Otley Road, Leeds at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of an ongoing serious incident involving a man seen with weapons.

Officers attended and found three people who had suffered injuries which police said were at this time not being treated as life threatening. A male suspect, 38, was located.

Two of the injured people were women and were taken to hospital for treatment. The third, a 38-year-old man, was arrested and taken to the hospital due to a self-inflicted injury.

Now, in an update, West Yorkshire Police said they had handed leading the investigation to anti-terror officers. The said: "Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.

"Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation. We are keeping an open mind as we are gathering as much information as possible to find out exactly what happened."

Police added: "Two weapons have been recovered from the scene which were a crossbow and a firearm. An extensive cordon remains in place in the Otley Road area."

Head of CTP North East Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley said: “Although our enquiries are still at a very early stage, the circumstances surrounding this incident have resulted in Counter Terrorism Policing taking the lead for this investigation. From the enquiries undertaken so far, there is no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved in the attack, and, at this time, we are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.”

Assistant Chief Constable Carl Galvin of West Yorkshire Police, who commanded the police operation, said: “Clearly this has been a shocking incident and we fully realise the concern it has caused. Due to the enquiry being active we are limited in what we can say, but I do want to reassure residents that everything possible is being done to investigate and understand what took place.

“We have an extensive number of uniformed officers deployed in the Otley Road area this evening to reassure residents and continue our enquiries at the crime scenes. I also want to thank members of the public for the support they gave victims and the emergency services as we attended the scene.

"We would strongly urge people not to speculate online or share information or footage which could affect the active investigation and continue to work closely with colleagues from Counter Terrorism Policing North East. We are also working with other partner agencies and key community representatives to reassure them and keep them informed.”

Anyone has any information or witnessed the incident is urged to call 101. Quote log number 925 of 26 April.