UK Crossbow Attack: Police Detain Suspect After 3 Women Killed In Shocking Case Of 'Messy' Breakup

A 26-year-old British man was detained by police on Wednesday after a brief manhunt following the killing of the wife and two daughters of a radio racing commentator with a crossbow in a suspected “targeted” attack.

Kyle Clifford, 26, from Enfield in north London, was wanted in connection with the deaths of the three women in the town of Bushey, north of London, on Tuesday night. The victims were Carol Hunt, the 61-year-old wife of BBC radio and Sky Sports racing commentator John Hunt, and their two daughters, Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.

‘Known to the victims’

Police said Clifford, found by officers in Enfield, “was known to the victims” and no additional suspects were being sought. Clifford was “receiving medical treatment having been found with injuries,” police said. Police previously said officers were called to a house in the leafy commuter town where the three women were pronounced dead at the scene.

‘Messy’ breakup

Chief Superintendent Jon Simpson called it “a horrific incident involving what is currently believed to be a crossbow, but other weapons may also have been used”. According to British media reports, Clifford had been romantically involved with Louise Hunt, the youngest daughter of the Hunts, but they split up a week ago. The breakup deeply affected Louise, who recently crashed her car into a telegraph pole outside their family home, UK’s Daily Mail reported.

Carol Hunt, a mother of three, had confided in friends at her local gym about her daughter’s tumultuous breakup with her boyfriend. “She mentioned her daughter’s split with her boyfriend was messy. Carol didn’t go into specifics, but you could tell she was worried,” a friend was quoted as saying by the British newspaper.

‘Truly shocking’

UK’s Interior Minister Yvette Cooper called the deaths “truly shocking” and said she was being kept updated about the inquiry. “The loss of three women’s lives in Bushey last night is truly shocking. My thoughts are with the family & friends of those who have been killed & with the community,” she said in a post on ‘X’.

BBC Radio Five Live sent a note to staff calling the incident “utterly devastating”. Wednesday evening, Hunt’s colleague presenter Mark Chapman offered tearful condolences on air, saying, “This has been a heartbreaking day.” Sky Sports Racing said on X that the team was “deeply saddened by the tragic deaths” and “our thoughts are with our colleague John Hunt, his family and friends at this awful time”.

(With agency inputs)