Police snipers spotted during Liverpool parade crash
Police snipers spotted in Liverpool city centre were not there because of the car crash that left a number of people injured, it has been confirmed. Liverpool's title celebrations were cut short after the vehicle was seen driving through crowds on Water Street. More than 50 people were taken to hospital.
Officers said in a press conference this afternoon that a white British suspect, 53, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs. The incident is not being treated as terror related. Following the incident, questions were raised as to why a sniper presence was spotted at the scene, reports the ECHO.
Footage of the incident quickly circulated on social media and eyewitness accounts said people "were flying into the air" as they were hit by the car.
A video of what appeared to be a police sniper team on the Queensway Tunnel Ventilation Tower has circulated on social media, with people questioning "did the police expect an incident?" However, the decision to deploy rooftop sniper teams in the city centre was "purely planning for a major event", the ECHO understands from sources.
Merseyside Police had an armed presence in the city centre due to the scale and magnitude of Liverpool's title-winning parade. This included the Project Servator team, which contains high-visibility armed officers.
The decision to deploy sniper teams is reportedly taken at any event of this significance and size. Previously armed police have been deployed to events in the city including the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool, last year, the Grand National, and even at Liverpool's Christmas Markets.
The parade celebrating Liverpool's Premier League title win saw crowds gather along the 15km bus route to catch a glimpse of the stars. However, the scenes of joy quickly turned to horror when a car was driven into the crowd.
Merseyside Police is carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the circumstances leading up to the incident, with questions being asked about how the car was able to access a key city centre road that had been closed to traffic because of the parade.
At this afternoon's press conference, Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said: "I want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the brave members of the emergency services who were on the scene of yesterday's incident within a matter of seconds.
"Following such a shocking incident, they immediately ran towards an extremely uncertain and potentially dangerous situation in an effort to protect members of the public and fellow emergency responders from harm.
"Merseyside Police continues to work with other emergency services, Liverpool City Council, Liverpool City Combined Regional Authority, local hospitals and health providers and Liverpool Football Club collectively in response to this incident.
"An extensive investigation into the precise circumstances of the incident is ongoing, and we continue to ask people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the incident and refrain from sharing distressing content online."
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