Blackheath drama: Suspected knifeman arrested as Sainsbury's locked down
Armed police swooped on a supermarket and hundreds of shoppers were evacuated as a man started a fire and then began running with a knife.
Armed officers swarmed on Sainsbury's in Blackheath as customers were told to leave their shopping and get out on Saturday.
An alarm rang out while shoppers said they heard a loud bang coming from the toilets as panicked customers tried to get out as fast as they could.
A man seen running from the supermarket holding a knife and was tackled by officers and arrested.
WATCH footage from the scene:
There were fears the incident could be terror related following the Manchester bombing but police said they do not believe that to be the case.
The alarm was raised at around noon when staff at Sainsbury's, which was packed with people doing their weekend shopping, told everybody to get out.
Trolleys full of shopping were abandoned while people were stopped from getting their cars from the car park as a cordon went up around the supermarket and surrounding roads were closed.
Armed officers, a dog unit, a police helicopter, firefighters and paramedics were all sent to the area while dozens of ambulances were parked on standby around two miles away at Toys R Us in Oldbury.
No member of the public was injured and all medical vehicles were soon back dealing with normal inquiries, a West Midlands Ambulance spokesman said.
Pictures from Blackheath:
Forensic experts were called in to examine the scene and shoppers were stranded for hours waiting to be told when they would be able to return to their vehicles.
Several people told how they heard a loud bang come from the toilets, with many believing there had been an explosion.
West Midlands Police confirmed a fire had been started but said they were investigating what had caused the blaze.
Christine Wells, aged 74, from Halesowen, was doing her regular shop at the store.
She said: "An alarm went off. People didn't seem to take much notice.
"Then it stopped, then a continuous alarm came on. Then it came on the tannoy, evacuation everybody out.
"Everybody made an orderly departure. I have a trolley full of food on the car park somewhere.
"At first I thought it was a practice. But when it came on the tannoy people started to look a bit concerned.
"That's when I realised this is serious, there were people at the entrance telling people to get out as quickly as they could."
West Midlands Police incident manager, Chief Inspector Paul Minor, said: “The store remains closed while we examine the scene and assess the cause of the fire.
“The man in custody and his motives remain unclear however, we do not believe this to be related to any terror threat.”
A Sainsbury's spokesman added: "We can confirm there was an incident at our Blackheath store, which is currently closed.
"Thankfully no colleagues or customers were harmed and the matter is now being investigated by West Midlands Police."
