Merseyside police rushed to Hart Street in Southport, north of Liverpool, just before midday today (9pm AEST) after reports of a stabbing.
“There are a number of reported casualties and more details will be confirmed when possible,” police said in a statement released a bit more than an hour later.
Armed officers seized a knife and detained a man, who was taken to a nearby police station, police said.
Locals were asked to avoid the area but police said there was no further threat to the public.
A nearby resident told the Liverpool Echo she heard “loads of sirens” and a helicopter overhead.
“Then the messages started to go around the local WhatsApp groups, saying ‘lock your windows, lock your doors’, we were told a man was running around stabbing people,” she said.
“We are all absolutely terrified, panicking and sick with worry – everyone is trying to reach anyone they know in the area. I don’t know how this can happen on a Monday lunchtime.”
