| Sudden Jihad Syndrome. |
One man is under arrest, said police, who have not officially confirmed the fatalities.
A source told the Telegraph there were three victims declared dead at the scene, and two transferred to the emergency room at Royal Berkshire Hospital.
The attack appeared to be "completely random," amidst a park full of people, a witness claimed.
"... One lone person walked through, suddenly shouted some unintelligible words and went around a large group of around 10, trying to stab them," Lawrence Wort, 20, told the PA news agency, according to The Sun. "He stabbed three of them, severely in the neck, and under the arms, and then turned and started running towards me, and we turned and started running. When he realized that he couldn’t catch us, he tried to stab another group sat down, he got one person in the back of the neck and then when he realized everyone was starting to run, he ran out the park."
Another man who saw the alleged stabber said it looked like the attacker was tapping people on the head, according to a report.
"I thought they were playing duck duck goose and thought someone had been sick, we realized it was blood spraying out," said the man, who gave his name as Dan.
Thames Valley Police said: "A number of people sustained injuries and were taken to hospital. A police cordon is in place in Forbury Gardens as officers investigate. We are asking the public to avoid the area at this time."
The Telegraph said eyewitness accounts on social media have reported "paramedics and police tending to maimed people in the park."
| The BBC adds: |
The attack happened at Forbury Gardens at about 19:00 BST where several people were stabbed.
Police are not currently treating the incident as terror-related, but counter terrorism officers were called.
Security sources have told the BBC a man arrested at the scene is thought to be Libyan.
| Libyan? How interesting. Place yer bets, ladies and gents: nutter or connected? We’ve seen quite a few connected Libyans running amok in England over the years... |
Counter-terrorism police storm a flat after a frenzied stabbing spree by a 'Libyan' man, 25, on middle-aged men drinking in a Reading park left three dead and another three seriously injured before attacker was rugby-tackled by hero lone policeman
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Counter-terrorism police last night raided a block of flats in Reading after a frenzied stabbing attack 'by a Libyan man' left three people dead and another three seriously injured.
Witnesses said the attacker targeted a group of middle-aged men 'sitting drinking beer' in Forbury Gardens in Reading town centre at around 7pm on Saturday and systematically stabbed them 'in the neck and under the arms'.
The knife-wielding suspect, 25, was arrested at the scene by a hero lone police sergeant who rugby-tackled him to the floor.
| From comments, added for future searchability: our jihadi is 25-year-old Libyan national Khairi Saadallah, who arrived in England as an asylum seeker some years ago. |
But he looks like such a nice young lad. Who could have possibly known ?