Labour MP Jo Cox dies after gun attack in Yorkshire

Jo Cox, a Labour MP, has died after she was shot twice and stabbed at Birstall in her West Yorkshire constituency, with a male suspect arrested shortly after the attack.

Reports said Jo Cox, Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was shot and stabbed. A man was also thought to have been stabbed, the BBC reported.

The man arrested in connection with the attack was named locally as Thomas Mair, 52, who lived alone on the Birstall's Field Head council estate.

"At 12.53 today, police were called to a report of an incident on Market Street, Birstall, where a woman in her 40s had suffered serious injuries and is in a critical condition," West Yorkshire Police said in a statement.

"A man in his late 40s to early 50s nearby also suffered slight injuries.

"Armed officers attended and a 52-year-old man was arrested in the area. There are no further details at present.

"Police presence in the area has been increased as a reassurance to the community."

It is understood the 41-year-old MP had been holding a surgery at Birstall Library before the attack.

She was taken by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary but a doctor had already pronounced her dead before she arrived in hospital.

The attack occurred in the area around the town’s library, where Cox held advice surgeries.

Cafe owner Clarke Rothwell, who witnessed the attack, said he heard a "loud popping noise that sounded like a balloon burst - a loud balloon", the BBC report added.

"When I looked round there's a man stood there in his 50s with a white baseball cap on and a jacket with a gun, an old fashioned looking gun in his hand," he said.

"He shot this lady once and then he shot her again, he fell to the floor, leant over shot her once more in the face area.

"Somebody tried to grab him, wrestling with him and then he wielded a knife, like a hunting knife, just started lunging at her with a knife half a dozen times. People were screaming and running from the area".

It was reported that Cox was caught in an altercation between two men. The extent of her injuries was not immediately clear.

Eyewitness Hithem Ben Abdallah was in a cafe next door to the library at the time, reports quoted him as saying that two men were seen to be having a disagreement, with one suddenly pulling a gun from his bag.

He said that after a brief physical scuffle, the unarmed man stepped back, which is when Cox became involved.
Another witness told the Dewsbury Reporter that the scene is swarming with armed police, and is cordoned off by police tape.

Cox has been the MP for the Batley and Spen constituency since the 2015 general election.

She was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. However, in the election she voted for the Blairite candidate Liz Kendall and announced in May 2016 that she regretted nominating Corbyn.