Double stabbing suspect in serious condition after he was shot by police

A man who was shot by police following a double stabbing in a back garden is in a serious but stable condition, the force said.

Police community support officers (PCSOs) were carrying out reassurance visits in Huyton, Merseyside, following recent knife crime when they came across the incident at 4.25pm on Wednesday, Merseyside Police said.

The PCSOs gave first aid to the victims – a woman in her 50s and a man in his 20s – and armed police were called to the scene on Tobruk Road.

The suspect, a man in his 30s, was shot by police and taken to hospital, where he is being treated for an injury to his abdomen, a spokesman for Merseyside Police said.

In an update on Thursday, the force said the woman also remained in hospital where she was being treated for serious injuries to her face, back and arms and was in a stable condition.

The male stabbing victim was discharged after treatment for minor injuries, according to the force.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched an investigation.

Knowsley Superintendent Karl Baldwin said: “I spent time with the officers who went to the incident yesterday and they told me about what they had done.

“I am just incredibly proud today that there are men and women serving the Merseyside community who are as committed to tackling serious violence and knife crime and putting themselves in harm’s way.

“They also live and raise their families in Merseyside and so they are our community as well and therefore the public should have faith with Merseyside Police that we are doing everything to tackle knife crime and serious violence.”

Neighbour Colin Hardy, 54, said he heard “lots of screaming and shouting” as well as the sounds of gunshots.

“It went quiet for a while then the police helicopter came over and (I) could hear police telling people to get back in their houses,” he said.

“I heard what I thought was gunfire.”

Resident Kelly Tumbare, 36, said: “There were about eight police cars and lots of commotion in the street with neighbours and a very strong police presence.”

Mr Baldwin said the suspect and victims were believed to be known to each other, and it was thought to be an “isolated incident”.

But, he said patrols would be stepped up as the stabbing was one of a number of incidents involving knives in the Knowsley area in recent weeks.

On May 7, a 16-year-old boy suffered a wound to his arm in an altercation involving a group of youths on electric bikes at a garage on Liverpool Road, less than a mile from the stabbing on Wednesday.

A 14-year-old girl and a boy, 15, were injured in a stabbing in Kirkby on May 2.

Mr Baldwin said: “Officers will be in and around those streets and in the wider area for the coming days to be there as a visible presence for the community to talk to them.”

He said recent incidents were not thought to be linked.

He said: “What we believe is a number of isolated incidents (have been) playing out in a public setting from what most of us would consider minor disputes between individuals and groups.”

Mr Baldwin issued a plea for anyone with concerns about someone who may be carrying weapons to contact police.

He said: “If you have concerns about a child, an adult, anybody who may be going down the wrong path, please tell us, because we will act not only swiftly but proportionately.

“So we’re not asking families to criminalise people necessarily, we’re asking them to give us and partners an opportunity to intervene before somebody becomes a victim.”

He added: “Those that commit serious violence or choose to carry weapons are the vast minority of people. We cannot allow it to be normalised.”