Suspect shot dead by police in Glasgow incident

Police shot dead a suspect in an incident in central Glasgow hotel on Friday in which an officer and five other people were injured, but Scotland’s national force said it was not being treated as terrorism.

Police Scotland gave few details of the attack at the Park Inn Hotel in Glasgow’s city centre shortly before 1pm on Friday afternoon but said officers had been on the scene within two minutes and had quickly contained the incident.

David Hamilton, chair of the Scottish Police Federation union, told the BBC that officers had attended a call at the hotel and been “met with a pretty difficult scene”.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, praised the police response to the “horrific incident” but declined to give any details beyond those in brief police statements in the hours after the attack.

Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, said in a tweet that he was “deeply saddened by the terrible incident in Glasgow”. Priti Patel, UK home secretary, said it was “deeply alarming”.

Steve Johnson, Police Scotland assistant chief constable, said the suspect had died after being shot by armed police.

“Six other people are in hospital for treatment to their injuries including a police officer, who is in a critical but stable condition,” Mr Johnson said in a statement.

“I would like to reassure the public that this is a contained incident and that the wider public is not at risk,” he said. The force subsequently said it was not treating the incident as terrorism.

The Park Inn Hotel, along with a number of other hotels in Glasgow, has been used to house asylum seekers in recent months as part of a controversial temporary accommodation policy introduced during the coronavirus lockdown. Critics have said it has been difficult for them to maintain social distancing and has put the mental health of some under strain.

Witnesses described bloody scenes in the hotel and a rapid and substantial police response.

One resident of the hotel, who declined to be identified, told Sky News that he had heard a commotion and had gone down from his third-floor room to find a person who had been stabbed lying in the reception and another person with stab wounds on the steps to the street.

The Scottish Refugee Council, an independent charity that supports refugees, has called on housing and care provider Mears and the UK government to explain why hundreds of people were moved from single and two-bed flats to hotels during the coronavirus crisis.

Campaign group No Evictions Glasgow has raised concerns about poor conditions and lack of medical care for asylum seekers staying in the hotels.

A demonstration by No Eviction activists against the use of hotel accommodation for them in nearby George Square was abandoned on June 17 in the face of a separate, disorderly protest organised by the far-right National Defence League. The NDL supporters said they were seeking to defend statues in the square, but were denounced by Ms Sturgeon as “racist thugs”.