Victim hurt in attack involving crossbow 'stable'

Police removed the cordon that had been in place on Otley Road on Sunday evening

One of two women seriously injured in an attack involving a crossbow and a firearm in Leeds has undergone surgery for "life-threatening injuries".

Counter Terrorism Policing North East said the "isolated incident" involving the women aged 19 and 31, happened on Otley Road, in the Headingley area, at about 14:47 BST on Saturday.

One of the women was sent home from hospital earlier while the other, who underwent surgery, was now in a stable condition, police said.

A 38-year-old man, who officers said was "the key suspect", remains in hospital in a critical condition, under police guard, after suffering a "self-inflicted injury".

• 'Otley Run should be happy and silly but this is scary'

The incident occurred on Otley Road in Headingley while people were taking part in the popular Otley Run pub crawl.

Cordons around the scene on Otley Road were removed on Sunday evening.

Two weapons were recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm

Det Ch Supt James Dunkerley said: "The investigation continues and officers are working at pace to establish the full facts and circumstances of Saturday's incident.

"We are not currently seeking anyone else in connection with this matter, which has caused understandable concern. We believe it was an isolated incident."

Alison Lowe, deputy mayor of West Yorkshire for policing and crime, said the man was being held under police guard.

'We're here for you'

She said: "The suspect injured themselves and is now in hospital under police guard so the threat has been eliminated."

Lowe reassured the public and said there would be an increased police presence across Headingley in "the coming days and weeks".

"This is a very, very rare incident and the police know that the public are very frightened, so there is a much bigger police presence.

"I would be scared if I had witnessed or been close to an incident of that magnitude.

"All I can say to those women and girls is that we're here for you. We're increasing those patrols."

Vasileios Balampanos says the area is usually quiet, apart from students doing the Otley Run

MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, Alex Sobel, said the incident raised concerns about the safety of the Otley Run.

He said: "We need to look at the numbers and see what we can do to ensure safety on the Otley Run.

"This is really serious and shocking and nobody foresaw that anything like this would happen, but we have had other issues, just because of the huge volume of people who come every Saturday and the growth in it.

"Because of this we're going to have to look really deeply at how Otley Run operates."

Police said officers were working "at pace to establish the full facts and circumstances" of the incident

Headingley resident Vasileios Balampanos described seeing the aftermath of the incident.

He said he saw paramedics treating someone further up Otley Road and "a couple of distressed individuals, students mostly".

"It was quite scary," he said.

"Generally, this is a quiet area but we have plenty of people doing the Otley Run and going to the pub. It can get busy sometimes."

Headingley councillor Abdul Hannan said his thoughts were with the victims and said the council was working closely with the police and reassuring the community.

"It's horrific," he said.

"There is a lot of footfall in that area, it is a busy stretch, especially on a Saturday.

"It is a tragedy what has taken place."

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