Glasgow stabbings: What we know

Getty Images police at sceneGetty Images

Six men, including a police officer, are in hospital after a multiple stabbing in the centre of Glasgow. A suspect was shot dead at the scene.

Police Scotland said they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident at a hotel.

What happened?

Armed police were called to the Park Inn hotel on West George Street at 12:50 BST on Friday after reports of a stabbing incident, and arrived on the scene within two minutes.

Police Scotland says the male suspect, who has now been named as Badreddin Abdalla Adam, died after being shot by specialist officers from the force. He was 28, and from Sudan.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said the incident is not being treated as terrorism and police were continuing to investigate the circumstances.

On Saturday police issued an appeal for footage of the scene, which can be submitted through the Police Scotland portal.

The investigation has been named Operation Strathenberg.

The 91-room hotel is understood to have been housing about 100 asylum seekers during the coronavirus pandemic.

What do we know about the victims?

Police Scotland said a 42-year-old police officer, Constable David Whyte, was in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

At 12:20 on Saturday, police confirmed his condition had changed to "stable".

The Scottish Police Federation said Constable Whyte's family was being supported by the service.

Five other men were also being treated in hospital, aged 17, 18, 20, 38 and 53.

Three were asylum seekers staying at the hotel while the other two were hotel staff, police confirmed.

What did eye witnesses report?

Constable David Whyte, in a statement released by Police Scotland on Saturday, said the scene that confronted him and fellow officers at the hotel was "something I will never forget".

"Despite suffering serious injuries myself, I know that the swift actions of colleagues saved lives and prevented a far more serious incident," he said.

Craig Milroy was working nearby and saw a badly injured man lying on the steps outside the hotel.

"I saw a man with no T-shirt, no shoes lying on the ground with what looked like a stab wound with someone compressing the wound," he told the BBC News Channel.

Matthew Nesbitt, who was working near the scene of the stabbings, said police were there "within two or three minutes of everything kicking off".

Chris Falchi-Stead was hosting a meeting at the Big Issue office close to the hotel where the stabbings took place.

"When we looked out the window, we noticed there must have been 20 or 30 police cars and about 10 ambulances," he said.

Stuart Gibson, who lives on West George Street near the Park Inn Hotel where the incident happened, told the BBC: "Armed police rushed into the hotel, it made it look as if they were looking for something.

"There was certainly one person who was carried out by police."

What has the reaction been?

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her thoughts were with everyone "caught up in this terrible incident".

"I also want to thank all of those police officers whose quick and decisive actions contained the incident - one of whom was among those taken to hospital - as well as the work of the other emergency services," she said.

Ms Sturgeon said she has had a brief conversation with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who expressed his concern and sympathies.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Johnson said he was "deeply saddened by the terrible incident".

David Hamilton, Scottish Police Federation chairman, said the incident was "what you dread as a police officer going into a scene like this.

"It's pretty clear that the circumstances they have been met with were really pretty horrific and what they would have had to deal with has been exceptionally brave in terms of their actions thereafter."

Home Secretary Priti Patel, in response to concerns raised by charities and MPs over the placing of asylum seekers into hotels, says accommodation "has been allocated in this particular way because of the Covid-19 crisis".

"Of course we constantly review the method around asylum, the accommodation, the provision and support, all of which is in line with law," she added.

Glasgow map
Presentational white space