Police arrest driver, 26, for murder after knifeman was killed to stop attack on woman who died

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A 26-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly mowing down a knife attacker to stop a frenzied attack on a woman who died from stab wounds on a street in west London.

The driver ran over a 41-year-old man in Maida Vale, west London, at around 9am today. Horror unfolded as the woman, aged 43, was stabbed multiple times in Chippenham Road in front of onlookers.

Witnesses desperately tried to intervene to save her, but she was fatally injured by the attacker, who police said she knew.

Jiyad Raad, 52, who lives locally, told how he and another passer-by confronted the attacker while he was stabbing the woman during the ‘horrific’ incident near two schools at 9am today, but he waved his knife at the pair and ordered them to ‘get back’.

The attack only ended when a passing motorist drove into the man who ended up pinned under the wheels of the driver’s blue Renault Clio, with dozens of children attending the nearby secondary school heard screaming at what they had seen. 

Mr Raad said the driver got out of his car and tried to chase the knifeman away, saying ‘I want to stop him’ before getting back into his car and running him over. 

Witnesses said the female victim was white, the assailant was black and they were both aged in their 20s.

One bystander said the incident was ‘something one sees in movies, not in real life’. Police were firstly dispatched to reports of a stabbing, but when they got to the scene they also found the man who had been hit by a car.

Paramedic teams from the London Ambulance Service were called as well as crews from London Fire Brigade, who freed the man as he was trapped under the vehicle, but both victims were declared dead at the scene.

Mr Raad told MailOnline today how he ran into the street after being alerted by the victim’s desperate screams, saying: ‘It was horrific. He was repeatedly plunging the knife into her. It was a 10cm (4in) long kitchen knife.

‘The woman was screaming for help but he did not stop. He was stabbing her in the neck and the side and the stomach as she was lying on the floor. She had her hands up trying to protect herself.

‘I ran towards him and we pleaded with him to stop. He then turned on us and raised the knife up and was threatening to stab us. He was saying ‘Get back. Get back.’ We couldn’t get near him. 

‘We couldn’t do anything to stop him. He was waving the knife at us then kept turning to stab the woman again. She must have been stabbed ten times. I tried to distract him but he wouldn’t stop.

‘He was only stopped when the driver ran his car over him. He drove fast enough that the attacker went beneath the car and was pinned under the wheels. He was asking people to get him out but we couldn’t lift up the car. 

‘He was shouting ‘Please. Please help me’. The woman was also stuck under the car because her coat was under one of the wheels. I was trying to help the woman. There was blood everywhere.  

‘I got blood all over my hands as I tried to stop her bleeding. She was breathing very heavily. In the end there was nothing we could do to save her. The driver was a young man. He was in a state of shock. 

‘I told him it was the only (way) to stop him. The police came and lifted the car up on a jack and took him from under the vehicle then put the attacker into an ambulance. He had been under the vehicle for about 15 minutes and he did not survive.  This all happened before 9am as people were taking their children to school. 

‘The attacker was a black man in his 20s who was wearing a hood and a mask. It seemed as if he knew the woman he attacked and had been lying in wait for her.’

Mr Raad said the two men were not known to each other but he believed both dead victims did know each other. He said: ‘The man who arrived in the blue car, which was a Renault, was scared about what happened. 

‘We spoke to each other and he tried to stop the guy with the knife. I don’t think either of the men knew each other already but I think the man with the knife and the woman knew each other.

‘The man in the car was white and he looked around 26 to 29. No one else was trying to stop the man with the knife and he tried to chase him away. He only did this for a very short time. I saw him when he arrived and he looked scared. I told him ‘wait until the police come’ and tried to calm him down.

‘But after that he just shouted ‘I want to stop him, I want to stop him’ and he ran the man with the knife over with his car. He knew exactly what he had done and was later taken into a police van. Police asked a lot of people in the road what had happened but they took the man away. There were about eight to ten other witnesses at the scene. 

‘I have a son who is 16 and he saw what happened as I was about to take him to school. I have another son who is 10 but he didn’t see anything as his mother took him away. My 16-year-old has been left in shock and is scared.

‘This is a very quiet area. No one else I know saw anything. It didn’t look like there were any friends or relatives of either the man or the woman present during the attack.’

Police said they had launched ‘an urgent investigation’ after the incident and officers were working to tell the families of the deceased. They said post-mortem examinations will be arranged. 

Photographs taken at the scene this afternoon showed forensic teams investigating and taking photographs amid a huge police presence with a large cordon in place that was causing five bus routes to go on diversion.

Two vehicles – a Vauxhall and the Renault Clio- were in the cordoned area alongside two London buses and a lorry. Three forensic tents were set up inside the cordon as detectives in forensic gear searched for clues.

Witnesses told how residents who live within the cordon were not allowed to enter, and local MP Karen Buck said what happened was ‘horrific’ and ‘devastating’ for both relatives of those killed and the surrounding community.

Mulugeta Asseratte, who saw the attack, said: ‘It is a very terrible incident. I was coming up from the bakery to Chippenham Road and suddenly heard shouts of ‘stop it, stop it’ and it was a girl being attacked by a gentleman. 

‘In any case, I’m a father of four daughters, such things do happen, and I tried to look and even say ‘stop it’ and it would not.

‘All of a sudden it moved to the street and no sooner than they reached the street than a driver came and hit both of them. We were all shocked and shouting and my heart goes out to the families of this fatal incident. This is something one sees in movies, not in real life.’

Witness Raad Jiyad, 52, told the Evening Standard: ‘I saw a man over a woman with a knife, I saw the blade. I heard her screaming in pain. I wanted to try and make him come towards me instead to buy her some time. 

‘We tried to save her. He had this big knife so no one wanted to go near. Then this car came through and ran him over. It was all over so quickly. He went completely under the car. I think the driver was just trying to buy time to distract him.’ 

Another local resident said he heard ‘awful screams coming from kids’ attending a nearby secondary school.

The incident happened on Chippenham Road which has an average house price of £497,000 and features a row of traditional townhouse terraces mostly now converted into flats as well as a park including a children’s playground. 

Local roads were closed with buses 31, 36, 228 and 328 all on diversion. Westminster North Labour MP Ms Buck, whose constituency address is just 200 yards away, tweeted today: ‘Horrific events this morning in Elgin Avenue, which will be devastating for family and friends of those killed and also for the local community.’ 

Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Neil Smithson said: ‘This morning an incredibly serious incident has unfolded in the Westminster area which has seen two people pronounced dead. Our officers are on scene and are working to establish exactly what has happened. As soon as we have more information will keep the public updated but for now we must avoid speculation and allow investigators to do their work.

‘What I can say at this time is that the incident is contained and we do not believe there to be any wider threat to the community. We have spoken to a number of people already but anyone else who witnessed the incident, or who has information that could help us, is urged to make contact immediately.’

Councillor Tim Roca, who represents the Harrow Road ward on Westminster City Council, tweeted: ‘Just hearing about the tragic events on Chippenham road this morning. Absolutely awful news and fair to say the community is in shock.’

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘An urgent investigation has been launched following the deaths of a woman and a man in Maida Vale. 

‘Police were called at 9.01am on Monday, January 24 to reports of a stabbing in Chippenham Road, W9.  Officers, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade attended the scene. 

‘A woman was found at the scene with stab injuries. Officers also found a man at the location who had been struck by a vehicle. Both the man and the woman were pronounced dead at the scene.’

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘We were called at 9.02am today to reports of an incident on Chippenham Road, W9.

‘We sent a number of resources to the scene, including two ambulance crews, two clinical team leaders, an advanced paramedic, two tactical response units, a medic in a car, an incident response officer, and members of our hazardous area response team. We also dispatched by road London’s Air Ambulance. Despite our medics’ efforts, two people died at the scene.’

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: ‘Firefighters were called to a road traffic collision on Chippenham Road in Maida Vale this morning. One car had been in collision with a pedestrian and a man was trapped under the vehicle.

‘Crews released him from under the car but he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. Another woman was also sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

‘The Brigade was called at 9.10am and the incident was over for firefighters by 9.47am. Two fire engines from North Kensington and Paddington fire stations and a fire rescue unit from Paddington fire station were at the scene.’

The incident happened on the junction of Chippenham Road and Elgin Avenue which is located four roads away from the BBC’s famous Maida Vale studios.

Police said witnesses can call them on 101 quoting the reference 1496/24jan, or to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or online