Authorities quickly released information about the driver of a car that careened through a street crammed with pedestrians celebrating Liverpool soccer club’s Premier League championship with a parade Monday.
At least 50 people were hospitalized after the Ford Galaxy, shown on a social media video, drove directly into a tight cluster of fans lining a street. Angry fans smashed the vehicle’s windows, and police quickly surrounded the car and arrested the driver.
Besides confirming the number of people injured — at least two seriously — the Merseyside Police answered a growing cacophony on social media questioning whether the driver was a terrorist.
“We would ask people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding tonight’s incident on Water Street in Liverpool city centre,” the police said in a statement Monday. “We can confirm the man arrested is a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area.”
In a news conference Monday, Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said authorities believe the man arrested was the driver of the car and that he acted alone.
“This had been a joyous day in Liverpool with hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets to celebrate Liverpool Football Club’s victory parade,” Sims said. “Sadly, at just after 6 o’clock [Monday], as the parade was drawing to a close, we received reports that a car had been in collision with a number of pedestrians on Water Street in Liverpool city center.
“Extensive inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision, and it is vital that people do not speculate or spread misinformation on social media.
“I know that people will understandably be concerned by what has happened. What I can tell you is that we believe this to be an isolated incident and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it.
“The incident is not currently being treated as terrorism.”
The police said at a news conference Tuesday that the driver was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving under the influence of drugs. They also said the driver is believed to have followed an ambulance onto Water Street, which had previously been blocked. Access was given to the emergency vehicle to allow first responders to attend to a person suffering from an apparent heart attack.
Police in England typically confine information released about suspects to the person’s age and the location of the arrest. The Merseyside Police’s swift release of details about the alleged driver are in contrast to the dearth of information released last summer about a 17-year-old in custody for a mass stabbing targeting young girls at a dance studio in Southport, England.
Axel Rudakubana killed three children and injured 10 others at the Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop. Soon after the attack, anti-immigration protests spread across England. A Southport mosque was damaged, and more than 20 police officers were injured during a melee with far-right activists after misinformation about the attacker’s identity was spread online.
Police later said Rudakubana was born in the Welsh city of Cardiff and lived near Southport. He was sentenced in January to 52 years in prison for the killings of Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6.
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram told the BBC on Monday that Merseyside Police acted “very, very quickly” in disclosing that the suspect in the car crash was white and a Liverpool resident to counter speculation on social media that had caused “real consternation.”
The incident prompted a statement from Buckingham Palace saying King Charles and Queen Camilla were “deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the terrible events that took place in Liverpool on Monday. It is truly devastating to see that what should have been a joyous celebration for so many could end in such distressing circumstances.”
Liverpool clinched the Premier League title with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Sunday, the last day of the season.
