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Home / World

UK bowling alley in lockdown as 'armed man takes hostages'

By Alex Matthews, Katie French, Abe Hawken, Scott Campbell
Daily Mail·
22 Oct, 2017 05:09 PM6 mins to read

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Video footage appears to show one of the staff members who was being held at gunpoint in Nuneaton. Photo / joehagen1 Twitter

Video footage appears to show one of the staff members who was being held at gunpoint in Nuneaton. Photo / joehagen1 Twitter

A man armed with a sawn-off shotgun showed police one of his hostages after he stormed a bowling alley packed with children.

Video of what appears to be a hostage outside the bowling alley. #Nuneaton pic.twitter.com/yhI8Xk7YSw

— Joe Hagen (@joehagen1) October 22, 2017

Police are have ended an armed siege in a bowling alley in Nuneaton, Telegraph UK reports.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said a suspect had been taken to hospital but two other men had been assessed as uninjured and discharged on scene.

Pleased to say that the situation in #Nuneaton is now resolved. One suspect treated at scene and taken to hospital by ambulance... pic.twitter.com/GUi3Pd5THP

— West Midlands Ambulance Service #HelpUsHelpYou (@OFFICIALWMAS) October 22, 2017
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Earlier, the suspect, a white man in his 40s, strolled around the MFA at the Bermuda Park in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, brandishing the weapon before taking two staff members hostage.

Around 30 armed police officers have been spotted at the scene, with all roads around the leisure park closed off, the Daily Mail reports.

Police have now confirmed the incident is "unconnected to any terrorist activity" and added they are still on the scene.

An air ambulance has landed near the alley, with a police helicopter flying overhead.

The chief executive of MFA Bowl, Mehdi Amshar, said two of his staff are being held hostage by a man armed with a gun.

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Mr Amshar told Sky News: "We understand that there is a gunman in the place and he is holding two of our staff as hostage."

He added that he had been informed the pair were being held at gunpoint at the Nuneaton branch.

Mr Amshar suggested the gunman might the ex-boyfriend or former husband of one of the staff members but this has not been confirmed.

He said: "We believe from what my manageress tells me that he is an ex-husband or a boyfriend of a member of staff,' he told the broadcaster.

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"That is what I know, I can't confirm that for definite.

"All our staff, the rest of our staff, are safe and they made sure that all the customers have left the premises so everybody is in safety, with the exception of the two people who are, we know that are missing and we assume that they are the two that are still inside the premises because the manageress has done the check but those two people are not accounted for."

Witness Lawrence Hallett was just feet away from the gunman when he was ordered to leave the bowling alley with his family.

He told Sky News: "I thought it was a joke and panicked a little bit."

Mr Hallett said he then ran "hell for leather" with his family out of the building before the gunman came out and started swearing.

The witness said: "We hung around outside for a little while, we didn't know what to do, what was going on.

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"He came out and swore and said 'what the heck are you guys', unslung his gun and went back in again.

"And at that point we backed off to our cars. There was no organised withdrawal. There was a guy with a gun.

"We headed for the cars in a bit of a panic and managed to get to safety at Bermuda Park."

Warwickshire police tweeted: "Officers are dealing with ongoing incident at Bermuda Park, #Nuneaton and confirm this incident is unconnected to any terrorist activity."

Officers are currently dealing with an ongoing incident at Bermuda Park, #Nuneaton. Please avoid the area.

— Warwickshire Police (@warkspolice) October 22, 2017

Chris Carpenter wrote on Facebook: "[he has] two hostages and a shotgun, just saw him walk a hostage to the door with the shotgun to his head".

A report, not verified by police, has claimed that the suspect was told off for smoking inside the bowling alley. He then returned enraged and wielding the shotgun.

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Witness Carl Lenton told Sky News: "I was in the Frankie and Benny's restaurant opposite the bowling alley.

"I was there with my family having a meal and then the manager from Frankie and Benny's came round saying we were on lockdown, we had to stay in and there had been an incident at the bowling alley - that there was a man over there with a gun.

"Police cars were arriving, there was a helicopter, police dogs and armed police stood around the bowling alley. It was quite scary at times.

"What we heard was that they'd got him contained within the building which is why they were trying to evacuate everyone else from the area as much as possible.

"The police were out there, they'd got full body armour on and were ready to go into the building if need be.

"Then we had notification from the police that he actually had hostages.

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"Everyone has been a bit up in the air, don't know what's going on and obviously there is a lot of children in here as well which has been quite an experience for them.

'"So everyone is a little bit scared at the minute."

The restaurant was put on lockdown after a manager went to the nearby cinema, where staff confirmed the situation, she added.

One man said he was with his two young sons when he was told to "get the f*** out" of the bowling alley by the gunman, reports the Coventry Telegraph.

Lloyd Weightman, was with his boys, aged seven and three, when he came out of the changing rooms to find the alley empty - apart from a man holding a sawn-off shotgun.

Cinema-goers have spoken of being stuck inside the Odeon, as police remain outside.

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Paul Edgington‏ wrote: "Something happened at bowling alley. Not sure what. We're in cinema.

He added: "I'm stuck in the cinema. Are we safe? How long are we expected to be locked down?"

Around 30 armed police officers have been spotted outside MFA Bowl at Bermuda Park in Nuneaton, Warwickshire this afternoon. Photo / IanBrownuk Twitter
Around 30 armed police officers have been spotted outside MFA Bowl at Bermuda Park in Nuneaton, Warwickshire this afternoon. Photo / IanBrownuk Twitter

Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones told Sky News: "It is a situation where I think we need to let the police do their job and I think this is an extremely concerning situation.

"But I have every confidence that Warwickshire Police are capable and are able to deal with what looks like a very difficult situation."

Roads surrounding the leisure park, which also includes a Frankie and Benny's restaurant, KFC and children's soft-play centre, have all been closed.

Warwickshire Police said they officers dealing with an "ongoing incident".

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