UK police detained Kyle Clifford after a manhunt on Wednesday. He was wanted in connection with an alleged crossbow attack that left three women dead. (Facebook/Herts Police)
- Kyle Clifford, 26, from North London, has been detained
by UK police following the crossbow killings of BBC and Sky Sports racing
commentator John Hunt’s wife, Carol Hunt, 61, and their two daughters, Louise,
25, and Hannah, 28. - Clifford, who was found with injuries and is known to the
victims, is currently receiving medical treatment. - No formal arrests have been made, and police are not
seeking additional suspects.
UK police
said Wednesday a 26-year-old man was in custody after the wife and two
daughters of a radio racing commentator were killed with a crossbow in a
suspected “targeted” attack.
Kyle
Clifford, 26, from Enfield in north London, was wanted in connection with the
deaths of the three women in the town of Bushey, north of London, on Tuesday
night.
The victims
were Carol Hunt, the 61-year-old wife of BBC radio and Sky Sports racing
commentator John Hunt, and their two daughters, Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28, the
broadcasters said.
In a
statement Wednesday, police said Clifford, who was found by officers in
Enfield, “was known to the victims” and no additional suspects were
being sought.
Clifford
was “receiving medical treatment having been found with injuries,”
police said.
No formal
arrests have yet been made, police later said.
A sign for Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield, north London, where triple murder suspect Kyle Clifford, 26, was found with injuries on Wednesday afternoon, after Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of BBC Five Live racing commentator John Hunt, and two of their daughters, Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, were killed in a crossbow attack at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
Local
police previously said officers were called to a house in the leafy commuter
town where the three women were pronounced dead at the scene.
Chief
Superintendent Jon Simpson called it “a horrific incident involving what
is currently believed to be a crossbow, but other weapons may also have been
used”.
A primary
school in nearby Enfield kept children indoors during the police search.
There is no
licence required to own a crossbow in the UK, but it is illegal to carry one in
public without a reasonable excuse.
READ | Manhunt underway after 3 women killed in London crossbow attack
Interior
minister Yvette Cooper called the deaths “truly shocking” and said
she was being kept updated about the inquiry.
A spokesperson
for her department said legislation was “under constant review and a call
for evidence was launched earlier this year to look at whether further controls
on crossbows should be introduced”.
She said
the minister would “swiftly consider the findings to see if laws need to
be tightened further”.
‘Shocking’
BBC Radio
Five Live sent a note to staff calling the incident “utterly
devastating”.
Wednesday
evening, Hunt’s colleague presenter Mark Chapman offered tearful condolences on
air, saying, “This has been a heartbreaking day.”
Sky Sports
Racing said on X that the team was “deeply saddened by the tragic
deaths” and “our thoughts are with our colleague John Hunt, his
family and friends at this awful time”.
Near the
Hunt home, neighbour Su Kehinde, 60, who came to lay flowers by the scene of
the tragedy, said, “They were the loveliest, gentlest family.”
Another
neighbour told reporters the victims were a friendly family.
“We
would see them every day passing by and they would say good morning,” she
said. “It’s really sad what’s happened, very shocking.”
A message on a floral tribute near the scene in Ashlyn Close, Bushey, Hertfordshire, where the wife and two daughters of a BBC sports commentator have been killed in a crossbow attack at their home. Carol Hunt, 61, who was married to BBC Five Live racing commentator John Hunt, and two of their daughters died in Ashlyn Close, Bushey, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday evening. (Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)
In March, a
47-year-old man was arrested after two people were injured in separate crossbow
attacks in London’s Shoreditch area.
Last
October Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, was jailed after being found in the grounds of
Windsor Castle, west of London, with a loaded crossbow.
He broke
into the royal residence on Christmas Day 2021 and told police he was trying to
kill Queen Elizabeth II.
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