A woman has been taken by air ambulance to hospital with injuries that are thought to be life-threatening after a multiple stabbing in south-west London.
Police arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of attempted murder yesterday morning after four women were found with knife wounds following the attack, which took place in the car park of a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Hampton.
Three of the victims were taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, but the most critically injured was airlifted to a central London trauma centre.
The incident was not thought to be terror-related, the Met said.
A staff member from the nearby Hampton pub said it was a “completely unprovoked” attack.
“He only went for the women. The man ran through and started attacking them. It didn’t seem like they knew him,” the worker said. “He was caught very quickly just outside the car park. He appeared to be out of it, on drugs or crazy.
“The woman who was badly stabbed in the back made it up to the police station and raised the alarm. She is well-known locally and always goes shopping there all the time.”
Police said the suspect was subdued with the threat of a Taser, although the device was not discharged.
Officers attended the scene on The Avenue in Hampton, on the suburban edge of Richmond-upon-Thames, after receiving a call that a man was carrying a knife, the Metropolitan police said.
A spokesman said: “Officers attended and discovered three women suffering from knife wounds. The London Ambulance Service also attended and are providing treatment to the women. Their conditions are not thought to be life-threatening or changing at this time.
“A fourth woman who had also suffered knife wounds was subsequently located at a nearby property. She has been taken to hospital where her condition at this stage is thought to be life-threatening.”
A spokesman for the London ambulance service said it sent paramedics and an air ambulance to the scene after receiving a call at 10.38am.
“We treated four women at the scene for various stab wounds, including to the chest, legs and back,” the spokesman said. “We took three women as a priority by road ambulance to a major trauma centre in south London. The air ambulance took the other woman as a priority to another major trauma centre in central London.”