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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/22/hostage-situation-reported-bermuda-park-nuneaton-retail-park-police-ongoing-situation
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| Nuneaton gunman takes two bowling alley staff members hostage | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police have warned people to stay away from a retail park in Nuneaton after a gunman took two members of staff at a bowling alley hostage. | |
| After Warwickshire police’s Twitter account said there was an “ongoing incident” at a bowling alley in Bermuda Park, the MFA Bowl chief executive, Mehdi Amshar, told Sky News that two people who worked there were being held. | |
| A number of police cars were pictured on the scene. The West Midlands ambulance service said there had been no reported casualties. | |
| An update posted later on the police force’s Facebook page told residents the incident was “unconnected to any terrorist activity”. | |
| Amshar told Sky: “We understand that there is a gunman in the place and he is holding two of our staff as hostage.” | |
| Asked if the gunman was known to staff at the bowling alley, he said: “We believe from what my manageress tells me that he is an ex-husband or a boyfriend of a member of staff. That is what I know. I can’t confirm that for definite.” | |
| He said there had been no contact with the two members of staff, adding: “All our staff, the rest of our staff, are safe and they made sure that all the customers have left the premises so everybody is in safety, with the exception of the two people who we know are missing, and we assume that they are the two that are still inside the premises because the manageress has done the check but those two people are not accounted for.” | |
| Sarah Fleming, a witness in a restaurant at the retail park, told Sky News reports of the incident had started to come through at about 3.30pm and she had been told the man was armed. “Police have advised us that there is a man with a shotgun and he does have hostages,” she said. “Everyone’s a little bit scared.” | Sarah Fleming, a witness in a restaurant at the retail park, told Sky News reports of the incident had started to come through at about 3.30pm and she had been told the man was armed. “Police have advised us that there is a man with a shotgun and he does have hostages,” she said. “Everyone’s a little bit scared.” |
| don’t go to bermuda park😅 pic.twitter.com/X5Q7HcYDeb | don’t go to bermuda park😅 pic.twitter.com/X5Q7HcYDeb |
| Eyewitness accounts on the Coventry Telegraph website said a neighbouring soft play centre and cinema were on lockdown, with customers asked to stay inside. All roads into the area have been closed. Fleming said police were allowing some people parked in the part of the car park furthest from the bowling alley to leave. | Eyewitness accounts on the Coventry Telegraph website said a neighbouring soft play centre and cinema were on lockdown, with customers asked to stay inside. All roads into the area have been closed. Fleming said police were allowing some people parked in the part of the car park furthest from the bowling alley to leave. |
| Paul Edgington, a cinemagoer who said he was with two children, tweeted to the police: “I’m stuck in the cinema. Are we safe? How long are we expected to be locked down?” | |
| West Midlands ambulance service said it had been called to the incident at 3.40pm. A spokesman said: “We currently have an ambulance, two paramedic officers, the hazardous area response team, and an emergency planning manager at the scene.” | |
| The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire air ambulance was initially dispatched but has since left the scene. | |
| The local MP, Marcus Jones, told Sky News it was an “extremely concerning situation”. | |