Police with 'guns everywhere' swarm to riot as house bombarded in Portsmouth
Armed police with “blue lights and guns everywhere” swarmed to a large-scale riot in Portsmouth after a house was bombarded.
Six Portsmouth men were arrested following the disturbing scenes in Strode Road, Tipner, on Friday around 9.30pm.
Police have said social media reports of a man being stabbed are wide of the mark but one of those arrested, a 27-year-old man from Southsea, was detained for threatening a person with a blade.
One man suffered minor injuries to their hand in the melee that resulted in over 20 officers attending the scene as two people were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment.
A nearby resident told The News: “Several people were arrested. There were a lot of spectators and police vehicles closing the road and access to the park.
“There were blue lights and police with guns everywhere, there must have been 20 plus officers. Residents are concerned if the area is safe or not and what happened and what is going to happen.”
A police spokesperson confirmed armed police attended, and said: “We were called just after 9.30pm on Friday (4 July), with reports that a large group of people had gathered outside an address on Strode Road in Portsmouth and were damaging property and threatening the occupants. Specialist officers were deployed and one man was located with minor injuries to his hand.”
“Six people have been arrested and remain in police custody at this time. An investigation has been launched and enquiries are underway to establish the full circumstances.”
Those arrested are a 21-year-old man from Portsmouth. He was arrested on suspicion of affray and racially aggravated harassment. A 27-year-old man from Southsea has been arrested on suspicion of threatening a person with a blade while a 28-year-old man from Portsmouth has been arrested on suspicion of affray.
A 25-year-old man from Portsmouth has been arrested on suspicion of affray and racially aggravated harassment, another 25-year-old man from Portsmouth has been arrested on suspicion of affray, and a 28-year-old man from Portsmouth has been arrested on suspicion of affray and criminal damage.
Superintendent Paul Markham, District Commander for Portsmouth, said: “We are conducting a full investigation, and have six people in custody.
“We have heard there are community concerns that this was a stabbing, however at this time there is no indication that this is the case. No people have been identified to have stab wounds.
“We understand incidents like this can cause concern in the community. Officers will be patrolling the area, if you have any worries please do not hesitate to speak with us.”