Among the victims of the unexplained attacks in Nottingham in the early hours of Tuesday morning were two 19-year-old students named locally as Barnaby Webber and Grace Kumar. A third victim, in his 50s, has yet to be named.
Students in the city say they are afraid to walk the streets after the killings.
The students were stabbed to death on Ilkeston Road in Radford, west of the city centre, in an area surrounded by student accommodation.
After the University of Nottingham confirmed two of the victims of the attack in the early hours of Tuesday were students, concern rippled through the academic community.
At the Student Union bar Mooch, students were in shock as they struggled to comprehend what had happened. “It’s really scary, it’s a really busy part of the city,” one student, who asked not to be named, told the Guardian. “I had a friend who was walking home at roughly the same time – it could have been her.”
The students said there had been a number of events in the city on Monday night, including a party at a club called Pryzm, from which the victims could have been returning.
Student Union officers announced that the Grad Ball planned for Tuesday evening had been cancelled.
One student, who contacted the Guardian anonymously, said: “Our leavers’ Grad ball was due to happen tonight and has just been cancelled. Many other fellow students previously keen to enjoy their final week or so in this lovely city are now scared to leave their houses.
“I had my window wide open last night and heard a piercing scream. If I were to walk back from a night out to either my house now or to my first-year accommodation, I would need to walk down Ilkeston road where this horrifying murder has occurred. Truly a scary time to be a student here.”
Ilkeston Road leads from the city centre to an area of the city with significant volumes of student accommodation, including the high-rise “Nottingham Student Quarter – Student Roost”.
A vigil at St Peter’s church, in the city centre, was attended by hundreds of people paying their respects to those who had died and been injured. During the service, attended mainly by young people of university age, those present were invited to place flowers below the altar or light a candle.
The bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, the Right Rev Paul Williams, said the impromptu service was an opportunity to “pray for those whose lives have so cruelly taken away”. The bishop said the city was “in collective shock and disbelief.”
Those attending the vigil included students from the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.
Speaking outside the church, a second-year student at the University of Nottingham said she did not know the students who had been killed. She added of the two deaths on the Ilkeston Road area: “We live fairly close to where, unfortunately, they were found, so it has properly shook up a lot of people. It’s really scary. It’s so horrible that this has happened.”
The identity of a third victim of the attacks , found in Magdala Road, is unknown.
The families of all of the victims have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers.
In a statement, the University of Nottingham’s vice-chancellor, Shearer West, said: “All of us at Nottingham are deeply shocked and saddened by the deaths of two of our students following a major incident in Nottingham city centre.
“I know our entire university community will join me in offering our deepest condolences to their family and close friends, as well as the other victims of the incident. Our thoughts are very much with them all at this incredibly difficult time.
“The university is supporting the students’ family and friends, and our security team is working closely with Nottinghamshire police and the authorities to support the ongoing investigation into the incident.”
