UK police release 1 of 2 men arrested over train stabbings and laud 'heroic' rail worker

LONDON (AP) — British police said Sunday that one of two men arrested in connection with a mass stabbing attack that spread fear and panic on a London-bound train a day earlier has been released without charge, and that one person, a “heroic” member of the railway staff, remains in a life-threatening condition.

In a statement Sunday evening, police said the only remaining suspect is a 32-year-old British man who remains in custody on suspicion of attempted murder. A second man initially arrested as a suspect was released without charge after it was determined the 35-year-old was not involved.

Police said they are not treating the stabbings as an act of terror and are confident they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack. They have not disclosed a possible motive or the type of knife used.

“Our investigation is moving at pace and we are confident we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident," said Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy of the British Transport Police.

“As would be expected, specialist detectives are looking into the background of the suspect we have in custody and the events that led up to the attack," he added.

Six people remained in hospitals Sunday, one of them in a life-threatening condition. Police said he is a staff member of the train's operator, London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which operates the East Coast Mainline services in the U.K.

“Having viewed the CCTV from the train, the actions of the member of rail staff were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved people’s lives," said Cundy.

The five others injured during the attack on Saturday evening have been discharged from hospitals.

The two men were arrested eight minutes after the first emergency calls were made at 7:42 p.m. Saturday from aboard the train, where passengers had reported scenes of panic and chaos, with many running through the carriages and some seeking safety in the toilets.

Police said the suspect is from Peterborough and that he boarded the train at the town's station, just a few minutes before it was forced into an emergency stop in Huntingdon, a market town around 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of London.

The attack took place as the 6:25 p.m. train from Doncaster in northern England to London’s King’s Cross station was about halfway through its two-hour journey, having just departed Peterborough.

Bloodied and confused passengers spilled out of the train at Huntingdon as dozens of police waited, some of them armed. A knife was recovered by officers at the scene.

During the immediate response to the attack, police said that “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to what could be a “marauding terror attack,” was initiated. That declaration was later rescinded.

Passenger Olly Foster told the BBC he heard people shouting “run, run, there’s a guy literally stabbing everyone,” and initially thought it might have been a Halloween prank — Saturday was the day after Halloween. But as passengers pushed past him to get away, he noticed his hand was covered in blood from a chair he had leaned on.

Following reports that some of those on board the train put themselves in harm's way to protect others, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood praised the “exceptional bravery of staff and passengers on the train."

King Charles III said he and his wife, Queen Camilla, sent their sympathies and thoughts to those affected and that they were “truly appalled and shocked to hear of the dreadful knife attack."

Passengers across the U.K.'s rail network saw a heightened police presence on Sunday, both on trains and at stations.

Forensic investigators are seen at the train after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Forensic investigators look at the area where travellers left their belongings after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Police Superintendent John Loveless addresses the media after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A forensic investigator works on a road leading to a train station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A train is parked at the station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Police on the platform by the train at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Forensic investigators on the platform by a train at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency responders on the tracks by the train at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency responders at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

The Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire is seen after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Police stand guard near the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire, after people were stabbed on a train, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has spent his campaign for Ohio governor focused on November's general election and finally gets the chance Tuesday to put the long primary season behind him, as the Trump-endorsed biotech entrepreneur positions for an expensive run against Dr. Amy Acton, the former state health director.

Contests on the ballots also will set the stage for Ohio's third competitive U.S. Senate race in the last four years, as well as a handful of U.S. House races that are expected to be closely fought in the fall.

Every statewide executive office is open this year due to term limits, but the governor's race has captured the bulk of the attention so far.

Ramaswamy, a 2024 GOP primary presidential candidate, swept onto the state's political scene early last year as a mad shuffle was taking place. Then-Sen. JD Vance was ascending to the vice presidency and front-running gubernatorial candidate Jon Husted was being appointed to replace him in Washington.

That opened a window of opportunity at the top of Republicans' statewide ticket.

Though he is a newcomer in state politics, Ramaswamy's national profile, tech industry connections and proximity to Trump landed him the Ohio Republican Party's endorsement. With it, he cleared a prospective field that included the sitting state attorney general, state treasurer and lieutenant governor.

But Democrats also saw opportunity with the open governors seat, even as the state, a former bellwether, has tipped convincingly toward Republicans during the Trump era. The president’s lagging approval ratings on the economy and dissatisfaction over the war in Iran are contributing to a competitive contest.

Acton, a physician and public health expert, emerged as their choice. She became a household name across Ohio in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as she stood alongside Republican Gov. Mike DeWine during daily coronavirus broadcasts. Her comforting presence during the crisis made her a beloved figure with many Ohioans.

But the administration's aggressive actions — including shuttering businesses, closing schools and canceling an election — also earned Acton plenty of enemies and made her the occasional target of people upset about pandemic policies, with some armed protesters showing up outside her home.

Ramaswamy's campaign has sought to capitalize on the lingering anger over pandemic restrictions with attacks on Acton's role early in the crisis. Ramaswamy was advising the lieutenant governor at the time — Husted — on virus-related economic issues and he founded a company that profited off its role developing vaccines.

Acton is unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Ramaswamy faces a long-shot challenge from Casey Putsch. The engineer and car designer is a YouTube provocateur who has trolled Ramaswamy incessantly over his Indian heritage and Hindu faith and painted him as an out-of-touch billionaire “tech bro.”

Husted is unopposed in the GOP primary for Senate, a special election to fill the remainder of the six-year Senate term Vance won in 2022. Husted's likely opponent will be Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former three-term senator who lost a reelection bid against Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, a contest where spending hit $500 million. Brown faces a minor primary challenge from first-time candidate Ron Kincaid.

Early voting began April 7 under some new election laws, including citizenship checks and elimination of the four-day grace period for receiving mailed ballots. There have been no reports so far of any widespread problems for voters related to the changes.

In the wake of a new round of redistricting that slightly favored Republicans, the state also has numerous partisan congressional primaries.

The most heated GOP primary is in the Toledo area’s 9th District for the chance to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in Congress.

The five-way contest includes former state Rep. Derek Merrin, whom Kaptur defeated by less than a percentage point in 2024, as well as an Air National Guard veteran, a healthcare industry worker, a sitting state representative and the former deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Madison Sheahan.

In Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman's Cincinnati-area district, which his party considers a “must-hold,” the three-way Republican primary includes Eric Conroy, a CIA and Air Force veteran who has been endorsed by Trump, Vance and Moreno.

Landsman also faces a primary challenge from Damon Lynch IV, the grandson of a prominent civil rights leader. Lynch has criticized Landsman for his initial vote against a war powers resolution on the war in Iran, which Landsman later followed up with a favorable vote.

In the Akron area's 13th District, five Republicans including business owner Neil Patel, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate, are vying for the opportunity to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes.

As a Trump-backed national effort to remake congressional maps in Republicans' favor was underway, Ohio Democrats took a could-have-been-worse approach and passed the map they were given unanimously.

Now party candidates are crowding congressional primaries across the state for the chance to take on sitting Republican representatives, who hold 10 of Ohio's 15 seats.

The newly redrawn 7th District in the Cleveland area has attracted eight Democrats hoping to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller, a former senior Trump adviser, in November. Among them is former Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014.

In northeast Ohio's 14th District, former state Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill is among three Democrats seeking to take on Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce. Joyce also has two primary challengers.

Meanwhile six Democrats are on the ballot in the Dayton-area 10th District of Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Turner. There are seven in GOP U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli's 6th District along the Ohio River and five in the 5th District of Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Latta.

Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown speaks during a campaign event ahead of primary elections at the Paladin Brewery in Austintown, Ohio, Thursday, April, 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

FILE - Amy Acton, Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, gestures as she speaks with a reporter in Columbus, Ohio April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to supporters before the Warren County Republicans Lincoln Day Dinner at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)