Terrified staff and shoppers flee from knifeman in Northamptonshire Asda

Terrified staff and shoppers fled from an Asda supermarket after a man started wielding a knife.

Armed police dashed to the store after a series of 999 calls from the public just after 9pm on Thursday night.

Quick-thinking staff evacuated late-night customers before armed officers arrived and quickly disarmed the suspect.

Police later confirmed nobody had been injured in the incident and a 22-year-old man was in custody — but insisted they will continue patrolling the area today to reassure shop workers and the local community.

Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant, Leigh Françoise Goodwin, said: “As you can imagine, this must have been a terrifying experience for the staff and the members of the public inside the store at the time.

"Our Force control room started receiving calls from members of the public at around 9.10pm reporting that a man was inside the supermarket in Michael Way, Raunds, holding a knife.

"Our call handlers took the calls as they always do in the face of panic ... calmly, reassuringly, measured and always with that hope in the back of their heads for a good outcome.

"When armed officers arrived at the scene a very short time later, he was safely detained and swiftly arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

"Firstly, I would like to pay tribute to the staff for the way they ensured their customers were evacuated and kept safe throughout the incident. Secondly, we want to pay tribute to our officers, from the call handlers in the control room to the armed officers on the ground, for an excellent response.

“Incidents of this nature is exceptionally rare. However I hope the level of response we provided, including our ability to quickly deploy specially trained firearms officers, reassures the community that we are always ready and equipped to react to a variety of scenarios in order to keep the public safe.

“Neighbourhood officers will be patrolling the area today to provide a reassuring presence for the staff and local community.”

“Finally, I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this incident but has not yet come forward to contact us so we can take a statement. You can do this by calling 101 using incident number 20000613837, or you can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111."

Inspector Carl Wilson added: "This was a challenging incident for my team and officers responding, but professional as ever, everybody played their part to resolve the incident swiftly and safely.

"Our particular thanks go to the staff at Asda and its customers who bravely provided critical information whilst officers were on their way to the scene."