LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – British counter terrorism officers are assisting police after a driver who struck pedestrians in the city of Derby on Saturday night was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said on Sunday.
The incident occurred at 2130 GMT on Friar Gate, a usually busy street in the city centre. Seven people suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital.
Derbyshire Constabulary said it was “keeping an open mind” about the motive, and that while counter terrorism officers were assisting the investigation, the incident was not currently being treated as terrorism.
The force said support from counter terrorism officers was “common practice for an incident of this nature”.
Police said officers stopped the vehicle – a black Suzuki Swift – believed to be involved seven minutes after the incident and arrested the 36-year-old driver, who remains in custody.
The man, who is originally from India but has lived in the UK for a number of years, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and dangerous driving.
“Although we know this will be alarming, we would like to reassure people that we do not believe there is an ongoing risk to the public,” police said, adding that they believed it was as an isolated incident.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony in London; Additional reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru. Editing by William Mallard, Mark Potter and Christina Fincher)
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