A 22-year-old man has been arrested after an incident yesterday (Thursday, November 19) inside Asda in Michael Way, Raunds.
At about 9.10pm, Northamptonshire Police’s Control Room received a number of calls from members of the public reporting that a man was inside the supermarket holding a knife.
When armed officers arrived at the scene a very short time later, he was safely detained and swiftly arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. He remains in police custody at this time.
No one was injured during the incident.
East Northants Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant, Leigh Françoise Goodwin, said: “This was a terrifying experience for the staff at Asda and firstly, I would like to pay tribute to them for the way they ensured their customers were evacuated and kept safe throughout the incident.
“An incident of this nature is exceptionally rare, however I hope the level of response we provided, including our ability to quickly deploy specially trained firearms officers, reassures the community that we are always ready and equipped to react to a variety of scenarios in order to keep the public safe.
“Finally, I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this incident but has not yet come forward to contact us so we can take a statement. You can do this by calling 101 or you can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
“Neighbourhood officers will be patrolling the area today to provide a reassuring presence for the staff and local community in Raunds.”
Incident number: 20000613837
