35-year-old held on suspicion of attempted GBH after a bolt fired into London cricket ground landed within feet of players

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm after a crossbow bolt was fired into the Oval cricket ground during a county championship match.

The 35-year-old attended a south London police station, where he was arrested and has since been bailed pending further enquiries to a date in late September, the Metropolitan police said.



Detectives from Lambeth continue to appeal for footage of the moments up to and including the firing of the bolt on Thursday.

DC Dominic Landragin said: “There were significant crowds watching the match and it is likely that a number of those present will have footage of the incident that could assist in our investigation.

Play Video 1:05 Commentators describe moment crossbow bolt lands on Oval pitch – video

“Although nobody was injured, this was a reckless action taken with no regard for the safety and wellbeing of the spectators or the players. It is important that we trace those responsible and I urge anyone who has footage of the incident to get in touch as soon as possible.”

The match between Surrey and Middlesex was abandoned and the ground evacuated after the bolt, which measured between 12 and 18 inches, landed within feet of the players.

The projectile, which was red and yellow and is believed to have been fired from outside the ground, landed at about 4.20pm about 10 metres from the pitch and close to the Surrey fielder Rory Burns.

“It was a pretty tasty arrow with a proper metal end,” said the Surrey captain, Gareth Batty, who was fielding about 25 metres away from where it landed. “It is a deadly weapon for sure, if it had hit someone it would have caused some serious damage. It just shows the world we live in.”

Police have focused their attention on the area north-east of the ground because of the direction it landed in.

Players said they heard the whistling sound of the bolt in flight, and the Middlesex batsman Nick Compton pointed towards the OCS stand at the Vauxhall end of the ground, suggesting it had flown over the stand.

There has also been some suggestion that further noises were heard in that part of the ground, perhaps the rattle of another projectile hitting the stand.

The Surrey chief executive, Richard Gould, said it “could very easily have killed someone. We do not know if it was fired deliberately or if it was fired and just landed on our green space. It’s a lightweight projectile but one which looked as if it could have travelled 800 metres.”







