Six people killed in Jersey knife attack

SIX people, including three children, were killed following a knife attack at an apartment on the Channel Island of Jersey yesterday afternoon.

A 30-year-old man, who had to undergo surgery following the incident, was arrested by police.

Neighbours said the mass killing, inside an apartment in the capital of St Helier, involved members of the same Polish family.

Officers were called to an address in Saint Helier, the island’s main city, at around 3pm after reports of a multiple stabbing, according to States of Jersey Police said.

Five people were found dead at the Victoria Crescent address.

A sixth person, a woman, who was critically wounded was taken to Jersey Hospital but died following surgery.

The victims were three children, two women, and a man, and they were all Jersey residents, according to police. They said some of the attacks happened in the flat and some occurred in the street.

Police sources were quoted as saying they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident but launched a murder investigation.

Eyewitness Andre Thorpe said: “For Jersey it was a major incident. Two ambulances turned up first because it was within a quarter of mile of the ambulance station. Then four or five police vehicles came, all blues and twos.

“I saw police come running out with a child, it was a small child, I just saw the legs. They went off in an ambulance. When the paramedic came back her shirt was covered in blood.

“We have quick response ambulance cars and two pulled up grabbed a kit and ran inside.”

He added that the area where the incident happened was quite secluded and not on a main road. Thorpe said he believed all the victims were members of the same family. A neighbour said she believed the family were Polish.

At a news conference, local head of crime services Stewart Gull would not confirm the nationality of the victims.

Gull said: “We took a report from a member of the public to say that he was aware of an incident in the street. It now appears that a number of victims have been attacked with a knife or knives.”

“Jersey is an incredibly safe island, probably one of the safest places in the western world and incidents of this nature are an extremely rare occurrence, particularly in Jersey and across the UK. This is complex. We are trying to piece together exactly what happened.”

Jersey has a population of about 91,000.