Sudanese asylum seeker killed after Glasgow stabbings

Police officer was among six wounded in the attack in the Scottish city

epa08510886 Police and emergency responders attend the scene of a stabbing incident in downtown Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, 26 June 2020. According to media reports, police have shot an attacker who had allegedly stabbed a number of people at a hotel.  EPA/Stringer
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A Sudanese asylum seeker has been killed by police following the stabbing of six people in the Scottish city of Glasgow.

A police officer was also injured in the attack and is in a critical condition.

The incident happened at a hotel which was housing asylum seekers.

There had been reports by the residents about the standard of accommodation, complaints about the meals and the lack of social distancing prior to the attack which happened in The Park Inn hotel on West George Street in the city centre.

Mears Group, an asylum accommodation contractor, is believed to have been employed by the Home Office to relocate about 400 asylum seekers.

"We will not anticipate a live police investigation, but we can confirm that the attack happened in a hotel where we are housing asylum seekers during the lockdown period," a spokesperson said.

"We will provide more details as we are able to and our priority is to look after the welfare of our service users who will no doubt be traumatised by this terrible event.

"Tonight, we also think of the staff in the hotel and our colleagues at the scene - all are in our thoughts."

Police are not treating the attack as terror-related, Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said, and police were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.

The police confirmed an officer was among six people who had been injured and were receiving hospital treatment.

Police Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said: "I would like to reassure the public that this is a contained incident and that the wider public is not at risk.

"Armed police officers attended the incident and I can confirm that a male suspect was shot by an armed officer," he added.

"At this time we are not looking for anyone else in relation to this incident. I can also confirm that a police officer was injured while dealing with the incident and that officer is receiving treatment in hospital."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply saddened by the terrible incident in Glasgow", and thanked the country's "brave" emergency services for their response.

Britain's interior minister, Priti Patel, called the reports "deeply alarming", and Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, called the incident "truly dreadful".

The stabbing comes less than a week after three people were killed in a park in the city of Reading, in southern England, an attack that police were treating as terror-related.

Videos posted on social media showed armed police officers in plain clothes near the Park Inn hotel in central Glasgow, which had been cordoned off.

One witness told the UK's Press Association news agency he saw one man lying on the ground without shoes, and someone was holding his side.

"I don't know if it was a bullet wound, a stab wound or what it was," said Craig Milroy, who works in an office nearby. He said the man was one of four people taken away by medics.

"After that we saw commotion, ambulances further up and we saw armed police all running into the hotel next to the Society Room.

"We were still standing outside. After that the police all came down, the riot police and triage team told us to go back in and lock the door."

Another witness, who gave her name as Louisa, told Sky News television she 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,'" she 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."

Police have urged people to stay away from the area.