South Yorkshire Police swarmed Barnsley town centre after a woman stabbed a man with what witnesses described as a large kitchen knife.
The town was placed in lockdown on Saturday morning after 8.20am with shops told to bar their doors and keep customers inside.
A local market trader has been hailed a hero after he confronted and pursued the woman.
Abdul Razzaq followed the 6ft-tall perpetrator, and informed police to her location in the town’s train station.
He said he then persuaded her to put down the knife before police officers arrested her.
Mr Razzaq described how the woman got a new kitchen knife as long as his forearm and disposed of the packaging in a bin in front of his stall.
He added: “I saw the lady come over on one side and say, ‘Kill, kill, kill kill,’ but I ignored it at first.
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“But then she opened this big bag, took out a knife and put its packaging in the bin.”
Mr Razzaq said he tailed the woman as she attempted to stab numerous people, including elderly women, and pleaded with her to kill him instead.
He also said he confronted the woman and called her a terrorist: “I told her ‘you are a terrorist because you do this – try to kill people’.”
The perpetrator allegedly replied: “I’m no terrorist” before repeatedly saying “kill” and attempting to stab people as she walked around t
A 28-year-old woman has been charged with attempted murder after a man was stabbed in Barnsley.
South Yorkshire Police received multiple calls at about 8.20am on Saturday after a man suffered minor stab wounds.
Ayaan Ali, of Isleworth, west London, has also been charged with affray and possession of an offensive weapon and remanded in custody.
She is due to appear at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court later today.
he centre.
