ABINGDON MURDER: Dramatic footage shows "knife-wielding" man tackled by police brave bystander Ross Overton following fatal stabbing in Poundland

The CCTV footage from the Spar shop in High Street, obtained exclusively by the Oxford Mail, shows a man seemingly waving a knife and entering the store.

Police arrive on the scene and threaten him with a Taser before finally overwhelming him.

It follows the fatal stabbing of a man in Poundland in the Bury Street precinct in the town yesterday.

Officers were called at 11.22am yesterday to reports a man was stabbed in Poundland, Thames Valley Police said.

The man has since died from his injuries and today civic leaders have spoken of their shock.

A statement issued this morning by Thames Valley Police said the victim has not yet been formally identified but is thought to be a 56-year-old man from Oxford and his next of kin has been informed.

A post mortem is due to take place later today.

A 36-year-old man from Abingdon was arrested shortly after the incident yesterday and is currently in police custody.

An 80-year-old man was also injured during the incident.

He was assaulted while sitting on a bench outside the store and suffered minor injuries to his hand.

Supt Rory Freeman, LPA Commander for Abingdon, said: “A man tragically lost his life yesterday and I know it will take some time for the community to come to terms with what happened.

“We have additional patrols in the area, including the Thames Valley Police Mounted Section.

"British Red Cross staff and volunteers are also working with us to give emotional support to members of the public who witnessed the incident.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the public who responded so bravely to the incident, in particular the nurses nearby who came to help, Poundland staff and customers and the staff of Santander bank. I would also like to commend the off-duty police officer who apprehended the man who was arrested.

“This was a shocking incident, but I am proud of how the community has come together in response.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to send my condolences to the victim’s family and friends.”

A murder investigation has been launched by Thames Valley Police, which said the incident was not believed to be terror-related.

Police confirmed they are not looking for anyone else.

Passers-by reported a man had been seen wielding a knife in Poundland.

Brave witness Ross Overton, 31, pounced on the knifeman together with a police officer and they wrestled him to the ground.

The produce delivery driver from Evesham, Worcestershire, said the man admitted to him as he sat on him that he had also stabbed his flatmate although police have so far refused to comment on this claim.

He said: "The man walked past my van shouting and screaming but I thought at first that he was on the phone or having an argument with somebody.

"About 30 seconds later I heard a lot of commotion, so I got out my van to check it out. I walked around the corner from where I was parked, by the library, and saw he was shouting at an elderly man.

"Then I saw the knives in his hands. There must have been between two and four.

"He got no attention from the old man so he walked further down the road, shouting, and took a swing at another man. The knife cut the man's hand.

"He carried on shouting abuse at people. He went into a shop and started shouting at people, saying 'shake my hand and show me some respect.'

"The people inside closed the door and told him to drop the knives. They said they would shake his hand if he dropped them.

"After this a police car pulled up and officers threatened to Taser him if he didn't drop his weapons.

"The undercover officer took him down and then I jumped on his back to help keep him restrained.

"He looked like just a normal person to me, but he was yelling '20 years they've kept me locked away,' or something along those lines.

"He was a white man and looked to be in his late 30s or 40s.

"I asked him if anyone else had been hurt and he said, 'I have hurt my flatmate. I stabbed him.

"I was parked outside the library beforehand, just around the corner form Poundland. He had already stabbed the man inside when I saw him."

Richard Mackay, manager of coffee shop Throwing Buns in the Market Place, witnessed the man as he was brought down.

He said: "I watched it unfold. I heard shouting and saw him with a carving knife about six inches long. There was blood on it.

"What really bothered me was the way he wasn't running. Not once did he try to run away. It was really odd behaviour.

"There was a crowd forming and I feared for people then. The guy behind him, on the phone, was only a couple of feet away from him. He was brave, you've got to question if he was just running on the adrenaline.

"The way the police dealt with it was amazing. It was very efficient."

Craig Rogers, 31, was shopping in Poundland with his one-year-old daughter.

He said: "I went to the front of the store to get signal to ring my wife. I was walking out when a man rushed in and slammed the door, like he was on a mission. He walked up one of the aisles, about 20 feet away.

"He picked up three or four knives - they were still in the packaging. I didn't see the stabbing but everybody started running and screaming. I ran out with my daughter in the buggy, and the guy walked right past me just a couple of feet away. If he'd have turned on me there would have been nothing I could do.

"He had a knife. I rang the police, people were running and screaming. He disappeared up the precinct with two blokes chasing after him.

"My daughter was my main priority, I wanted to keep her safe. If she hadn't been with me I would have ran after him too."

Mr Rogers, who lives in Caldecott, said he was shaken up by the horrific rampage.

He said: "We've had three murders near us now in the past 18 months."

Senior investigating officer, Det Supt Chris Ward, head of the Major Crime Unit, said: "If they haven’t already, I would appeal to anyone who was in Poundland or the vicinity of the store this morning to contact police as soon as possible as they might have vital information that can aid our murder investigation.

“I would particularly appeal to anyone who captured footage at the scene to come forward as such recordings could help us piece together the tragic events this morning.

“If you have any information please contact the Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 101."

Superintendent Rory Freeman, Abingdon's police commander said: "People will understandably be shocked and upset by this, which happened in such a public place. We were called to reports of a stabbing at Poundland at 11.22am."

He said police were not treating the murder as a terrorist attack, and thanked the public for their support.

Supt Freeman said: " I realise that people will come here tomorrow Christmas shopping and will have concerns, so there will be a police presence."

A 65-year-old woman, from North Abingdon, witnessed a man brandishing knives as he ran down Bury Street.

She said: "I was sat in Coffee Aroma in the High Street. I was looking out the window, I thought I must be seeing things. I saw this chap with blades sticking out of both hands, maybe kitchen knives a few inches long.

"There were two men, I think civilians, chasing him and one was on the phone maybe ringing the police. They restrained him outside of the Spar.

"A woman police officer tasered him and he dropped the knives. Other police came soon after. We ran out but I stayed back. I was with my daughter who went to help control the traffic so the police cars could get through.

"I saw a mother and young daughter come out of Poundland who had been inside. They looked very harassed.

"My first reaction was I couldn't believe it."

Kashif Syed, a member of staff at the Spar shop in High Street, said a man holding a knife tried to come into the store.

Ian Collett, manager of The Bookstore in the precinct, said he came out of his shop after hearing a disturbance.

He added: "I saw this guy walking past the front of the shop holding a blade which was about a foot long.

"I said to myself 'is that real?' - it looked like a plastic toy.

"He may have cut a second person - there was a man sitting on a bench with his hand bandaged."

Mr Collett added: "It's hard to believe this has happened in the precinct."

A barmaid at the Black Swan pub, behind Poundland, locked herself inside when she saw terror-stricken faces.

She said: "I was outside and heard shouting. I saw people running round the corner from Poundland in a panic. I ran inside the pub and locked the doors.

"With everything that's going on at the moment I didn't know what to expect. You could see the fear in their faces.

"I was really panicking. It was the not knowing - we could see something terrible was happening."

He said the precinct had been closed to shoppers so police forensic officers can conduct an investigation.

It had reopened by 4.50pm and traffic was said to be flowing normally. 

South Oxfordshire District Council leader John Cotton expressed his shock at the "dreadful news".

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood offered her thanks to those who helped during the incident.

She tweeted: "Spoken to police about next steps in #Abingdon murder case. So grateful to those who stepped in to protect others regardless of the risk."

Thames Valley Police said officers were called at 11.22am to reports that a man had been stabbed in Poundland.

Spokeswoman Charlotte Redman added: "A 36-year-old man from the Abingdon area has been arrested and is currently in custody.

"Poundland is closed and there is a scene watch in place.

"A second man was injured nearby and officers are investigating whether this is connected.

"He sustained a minor injury to his thumb.

"At this stage this is not being treated as a terrorist incident.

"We understand members of the public are concerned, and officers are in the area dealing with the incident and speaking to people to provide reassurance."

Taxi driver Colin Dobson said: "I was picking my passenger up from the Poundland store where the incident happened.

"The first that I heard that something was going on was when police vehicles pulled up and police officers ran off into the store.

"The doors had been closed.

"Someone had run out of Poundland and down the other end of the precinct and then a man was apprehended on the High Street."

In a statement, Poundland chief executive Jim McCarthy said: “We are naturally shocked that one of our customers was attacked and has subsequently, despite the best efforts of colleagues, customers and paramedics, sadly passed away.   

"Our sympathy and thoughts centre on the family of the deceased and of course with other customers and colleagues who were in the store at the time of this terrible incident."

He added that he had seen three ambulances at the scene.

Our reporter at the scene Sophie Grubb said a police helicopter could be seen flying overhead.

John Mason School has advised its pupils not to walk home via the town centre today.

In a letter emailed to parents, the school said it was briefing students following the incident and would be updating parents, carers and students as soon as it had further information from Thames Valley Police.

Broad Street was closed and there were long delays reported for drivers. Traffic was backed up on Oxford Road stretching to Northcourt Road.

Police asked drivers to avoid the area, but there was still access to the hospital. 

For automatic traffic updates on this incident, see our live traffic feed.