Gym locked down as armed police enter and arrest suspected terrorist

A gym owner has spoken of the “shocking” moment armed police stormed the gym in Wigan to arrest a customer suspected of terrorism offences.

Officers placed The Warehouse Gym, on Platt Lane in Hindley, on lockdown at around 7.30pm on Wednesday night (May 8), owner Jonny Hart said. Manchester Evening News. He said his clients watched as a colleague who was going to the gym was restrained and dragged away in handcuffs.

Footage shows armed officers and police dogs sweeping the area following the arrest. It comes as Greater Manchester Police arrested three men in the region on suspicion of terrorism offences.

READ THE FOLLOWING: Three men from Greater Manchester have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences

The men, aged 35, 36 and 51, were arrested at separate locations and taken into custody for questioning. Follow live updates here.

Mr Hart said he received a call from a member of staff on Wednesday night saying there had been an “incident” at the gym. “There was a suspected terrorist as a member of the gym there who was training,” he told the MEN

“The police came with dogs and drones and everything and basically stormed the gym. We had a very busy gym with about 250 members in there, so obviously there was a lot of confusion.”

Mr Hart said the gym was placed in a “lockdown zone”, not allowing anyone in or out, while police swept the business.

“We’re in the corner of an industrial area, so they put a cordon in the area. We had police dogs and guards on either side to stop anyone escaping.

“Then they went through the gym. They were quite methodical in the way they did it. They caught him very quickly and restrained him in plastic, then escorted him to the waiting vans.

“They made sure everyone in the gym stayed there so no one could get in or out. And then they did, like, a sweep of the room.

“But all the members of the gym, the staff, have been quite commendable, they’ve been really supportive and doing what they can and explaining to the officers where he’s been in the gym, if he’s brought a bag with him and, and soon.”

He added following the arrest, a police officer told the gym manager that the person had been under surveillance during the day, and after realizing he was not at his home address, they followed him to the gym.

“I think the main thing is they’ve apprehended this guy,” Mr Hart said. “Whether he’s guilty or not, they had some intelligence and secured him and there were no injuries, no problems like that.

“So you know, from our perspective, we fully support what they’ve done. And you know I’m sure the investigation will lead to other things.”

Police scenes remain in place in Bolton, Great Lever, Abram and Hindley today as police carry out their enquiries. Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts, who has responsibility for counter-terrorism policing in the North West, said: “This evening we executed a number of planned warrants as part of an ongoing counter-terrorism investigation.

“Three men have been taken into custody for questioning and the scenes remain in place while we carry out further enquiries. Today’s activity was the culmination of a lot of detailed planning and we have put measures in place to minimize disruption to local residents as much as possible.

“I understand that any time an arrest of this nature is made, it will cause concern and people will naturally have questions. While we cannot go into specific details of the investigation at this stage, I want to reassure the public that we do not currently believe there is a wider threat related to today’s activity.

“Further details will be released where appropriate as the investigation progresses.”