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Labour MP Jo Cox shot in West Yorkshire Labour MP Jo Cox in critical condition after being shot and stabbed
(35 minutes later)
Jo Cox, the MP for Batley and Spen, has been shot in her West Yorkshire constituency, according to reports. Jo Cox, the MP for Batley and Spen, has been shot and stabbed in her West Yorkshire constituency.
The Labour politician was injured in the attack and there is an ongoing police operations in the area, a witness told the Press Association. Armed officers responded to the attack near a library in Birstall, and a 52-year-old man was arrested in the area, police confirmed.
Armed officers are reportedly on the scene in Birstall, near Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. West Yorkshire police said in a tweet: “We are aware of a serious incident ongoing in Birstall. Details will be released in the press in due course.” They added that the Labour politician had suffered “serious injuries and is in a critical condition”. A man in his late 40s to early 50s nearby also suffered slight injuries, police said.
The attack reportedly took place near the town’s library, where the MP holds advice surgeries. Yorkshire ambulance service said it was aware of an incident but had no further information. The attack was launched after the MP was embroiled in an altercation involving two men near her weekly advice surgery, a witness told the Press Association.
According to a Labour source, Cox was shot and stabbed after she had concluded the drop-in session for constituents around 1pm.
Another person, who has not been identified, was also injured and both were taken to hospital, the source said.
Related: Labour MP Jo Cox shot - live updates
West Yorkshire police said in a tweet: “We are aware of a serious incident ongoing in Birstall. Details will be released in the press in due course.”
The shopkeeper in a greengrocer opposite Birstall Library, Golden D’Licious, said that he believed the attacker had been waiting for the MP outside the library.
“I was inside the shop and all I heard was a scream and then the gun shot,” he said, without giving his name. “I went out and everyone was dispersing. I couldn’t see because it happened behind a car.”
Witness Hithem Ben Abdallah, 56, was in the cafe next door to the library shortly after 1pm when he heard screaming and went outside.Witness Hithem Ben Abdallah, 56, was in the cafe next door to the library shortly after 1pm when he heard screaming and went outside.
He told PA a man in a baseball cap “suddenly pulled a gun from his bag” and after a brief scuffle with another man the MP became involved.He told PA a man in a baseball cap “suddenly pulled a gun from his bag” and after a brief scuffle with another man the MP became involved.
He added: “He was fighting with her and wrestling with her and then the gun went off twice and then she fell between two cars and I came and saw her bleeding on the floor.”He added: “He was fighting with her and wrestling with her and then the gun went off twice and then she fell between two cars and I came and saw her bleeding on the floor.”
Related: Labour MP Jo Cox shot - live updates A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: “At 12.53 today, police were called to a report of an incident on Market Street, Birstall, where a woman in her 40s had suffered serious injuries and is in a critical condition.
The 42-year-old MP was elected to parliament in 2015, having previously worked internationally as a head of policy and humanitarian campaigning for Oxfam. “A man in his late 40s to early 50s nearby also suffered slight injuries. Armed officers attended and a 52-year-old man was arrested in the area. There are no further details at present.
“Police presence in the area has been increased as a reassurance to the community.”
The Priestley Residential Care Home next door to the library on Market Street was thought to be in lock-down. The firm’s head office said all the residents are safe and accounted for following the shooting.
Senior MPs reacted to news of the shooting. David Cameron tweeted:
Jeremy Corbyn said:
Utterly shocked by the news of the attack on Jo Cox. The thoughts of the whole Labour Party are with her and her family at this time.
Boris Johnson, who was out campaigning on the bus in East Anglia, said: “Just heard the absolutely horrific news about the attack on Jo Cox MP. My thoughts are with Jo and her family.” He later confirmed that he was suspending his campaign.
The 42-year-old MP was elected to parliament in 2015, having previously worked internationally as a head of policy and humanitarian campaigning for Oxfam
She chairs the all-party parliamentary group for Friends of Syria, and was vocal in making the case for military action in the country last autumn, on humanitarian grounds.
Her husband is former Labour advisor Brendan Cox, who stepped down as a senior executive of the charity Save the Children last year.
Cox’s fellow Labour MP John Mann described her as, “one of the real stars of the new intake”, and said her colleagues were, “absolutely stunned” by the reports of an attack.
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