Three days after the attack that left three stabbed dead in Nottingham, British police on Friday charged the suspect with triple murder, without charges indicating a terrorist motive.
Nottinghamshire Police have also charged Valdo Calocane, 31, with three attempted murders for injuring three people by ramming them with a van.
He will be presented in court on Saturday, after a police custody which had been extended for 36 hours on Thursday.
Two 19-year-old students, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, along with 65-year-old school worker, Ian Coates, were stabbed to death in the attack which happened early Tuesday morning and had resulted in the closure of the city center for long hours.
Three other people were injured, knocked down by a van located shortly after a little over a kilometer and aboard which the suspect had been arrested by the police.
“These charges are a significant development and come after a thorough investigation into these horrific incidents that have taken place in our city,” Nottinghamshire Police Chief Kate Meynell was quoted in a statement as saying.
Police say the suspect had no known fixed address, but did not release many more details about the man or his motives.
She said only that he was a former student at the University of Nottingham, like two of the victims, but that this “was not considered to have any connection with the attack”.
On Wednesday, Interior Minister Suella Braverman called for all “speculation” on the motive for the attack to be avoided, while the police confirmed that they were investigating with the support of anti-terrorist forces.
Alongside the investigation into the attack, police have also opened an internal investigation after it was confirmed that a police car had followed the van for a short distance on Tuesday morning shortly before it hit hit two people.
The agent who was driving this car then stopped to help the two injured.
Tributes
The attack has sparked outrage among the people of Nottingham and beyond.
“This is an incredibly sad time for our city and county and we stand united as we deal with the aftermath of what happened,” Kate Meynell said in the statement.
Since Tuesday, vigils and tributes have multiplied in honor of the victims, like Wednesday at the University of Nottingham.
Several thousand people also gathered at the end of the day on Thursday in the main square of the city to reflect and listen to the moving speeches of the families of the three victims.
The Minister of the Interior also visited the site on Thursday.
“In terrible times like this, it is vital that we stand together as a country. We cannot let horrific acts of violence take this away from us,” she said.
Players from the England and Australia national cricket teams wore black armbands on Friday in tribute to the victims of the first Test match between the two countries which took place in Birmingham.