An armed man on the run with a crossbow after allegedly killing three women has been urged to hand himself in by police.
Chief Superintendent Jon Simpson said the victims were aged 25, 28 and 61. Addressing suspect Kyle Clifford directly, he said: “Kyle, if you are seeing or hearing this, please make contact with the police.”
He repeated warnings to the public not to approach him, but to call 999 straight away if they see him on the street.
Speaking at a press conference at Hatfield Police Station, Chief Superintendent Simpson said the three murders in Bushey, Hertfordshire are believed to be “targeted”.
He told reporters: “Our overarching objective today is to protect public safety and to locate Kyle Clifford, who is wanted in connection with the murder of the three women in what we believe is a targeted incident.
“We have extensive police resources deployed to various locations in north London and also the Bushey area.
“The manhunt also involves armed police officers and specialist search teams responding at pace in the wake of what has been a horrific incident involving what is currently believed to be a crossbow, but other weapons may also have been used.”
According to the Telegraph, the victims are the wife and two daughters of the BBC Five Live racing commentator John Hunt.
Hunt, who has commentated for the Beeb for 20 years and was a police officer before that, was working at the races on Tuesday and may have raised the alarm when he returned home at around 7pm.
It is believed the suspect is the ex-boyfriend of one if the victims, while the other two deceased are her mum and sister.
Police believe Clifford used a crossbow in the attack and may be armed with other weapons.
Residents of Ashlyn Close reported hearing screaming as the horror unfolded.
One 46-year-old, who did not want to be named, said: “It literally just sounded like kids, somebody screaming, and then it was more shrill and I was like ‘that’s definitely a woman screaming’, and within 15 minutes, it was absolute chaos.
“We had armed police running down, screaming ‘stay in your house’…. they shut us off and basically put us into lockdown.”
Local councillor Lawrence Brass came down to the scene to try and calm the fears of residents. He said: ‘I have come down to speak to residents who might be afraid. This is a very middle-class community and there are obviously fears.”
To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.