Three people have been found dead after an ‘appalling’ attack in a block of flats – with a teenager arrested on suspicion of murder and a weapon found.
The horror discovery was made shortly before dawn, at 5.30am today, inside a 15-storey high-rise block in Luton, Bedfordshire.
Three people were found with injuries before later being declared dead at the scene, Bedfordshire Police said.
Following the triple killing, a major police operation was launched, with armed cops swarming large parts of the town.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody and is being questioned by detectives.
The force revealed tonight they had recovered a firearm from Bramingham Road, adding that police believed all involved in the incident were ‘known to each other’.
Bedfordshire Police said the deaths, at an address in the Leabank building, are being treated as an isolated incident.
In a press briefing this afternoon, Assistant Chief Constable John Murphy said that a weapon had been recovered during a search of the area.
‘That 18-year-old man is currently in custody at Luton Police Station,’ he said.
‘We’ve also been conducting a number of searches in the area and those searches have resulted in the recovery of a weapon.
‘At this stage I’m not in a position to go into the detail around the age or ethnicity or any further details about the victims while we’re in the process of contacting the next of kin and our full focus at the moment is on supporting the families.’
He said the incident appeared to ‘very isolated’, adding: ‘At this stage we are not looking for anybody else in relation to the homicide investigation.’
Neighbours living nearby have since told of their horror at the deaths.
A local resident, Kelly, who did not want to give her last name, said she went to the flats next door to the triple murder investigation at 7am this morning and ‘immediately knew there had been a death’.
She said: ‘I went to help a friend look after their dog. When I turned up there was an armed response vehicle on Wauluds Bank along with a normal response car.
‘I pulled into the car park and I immediately knew there had been a death.’
Kelly said she counted 12 police cars and three ambulances and when she took her friend’s dog out, a police riot van turned up.
Kelly, who lives close to the Leabank flats, added: ‘It’s hurtful.
‘Marsh Farm already has a very bad reputation and people are trying to make the best of what their given.
‘Then you have people who are clearly struggling and don’t know how to cope and things like this happen.’
Davy Bridgestock, who lives in the block with his partner Lauren Purcell, told the BBC: ‘I woke up to my boys screaming in the morning. Looking out the window I saw police everywhere.
‘I didn’t know what to do, whether to leave the block of flats or not.
‘It’s pretty scary when you have kids in a block of flats.’
Speaking to ITV, Mr Bridgestock added: ‘I didn’t know what to think, I went out to check on them and looked out the window, and saw armed police everywhere, balaclavas even had the guns… we didn’t know what to do… it was very frightening.’
Leabank is located on the Marsh Farm estate and is about three miles north of Luton town centre.
A two-bedroom flat in the high-rise where the killings are alleged to have happened cost
Officers in the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit have now launched an investigation.
Detective Superintendent Rob Hall said: ‘This is a truly appalling incident which has sadly resulted in the tragic deaths of three people.
‘We understand this news will be incredibly shocking, but please be assured we will work tirelessly to establish the full circumstances surrounding these deaths.
‘One man has been arrested in connection with the incident and we do not believe there is any threat to the wider community.
‘However, we appreciate people will be concerned, so there will be an increased presence of community police officers in and around the area today and over the coming days to answer questions and provide reassurance.’
Anyone with information with should contact police on 101 quoting Operation Longacre.