UPDATE: One believed to be dead and others injured in 'terrible tragedy' involving incidents at Teangue and Tarskavaig on Skye and Dornie in Lochalsh as local MSP reacts to 'devastating' news
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IT has been branded "the worst day that I can ever recall in the history of Skye and Lochalsh" by local MSP Kate Forbes.
A39-year-old man is in police custody after a string of incidents in Skye and Lochalsh today.
Police were made aware of a woman injured at a property in the Tarskavaig area on Skye shortly before 9am.
Officers then attended two further incidents in Teangue on Skye and Dornie in south-west Ross-shiore. The incidents are being linked.
An update from police is still awaited following this morning's tragedy, which is it understood has left one man dead and and four other people injured and receiving hospital treatment.
Large numbers of emergency vehicles were seen by locals around the areas of the incidents.
“West Highland communities are close-knit, we are warm and welcoming, and this will shatter us to the core. It feels like our very heart has been ripped apart. I, and I am sure many others, never thought we would see such an awful day. Not a single West Highland home will be untouched by this terrible tragedy." - MSP Kate Forbes
It is believed – but has not yet been officially confirmed – that a firearm was used.
The ambulance service said multiple ambulances and a special operations response team had been scrambled to the areas concerned.
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It is understood four patients were transported to hospital – two to Raigmore in Inverness, one to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and one to Broadford Hospital on Skye.
Kate Forbes MSP said: “Today’s tragic news is simply devastating. This is the worst day that I can ever recall in the history of Skye and Lochalsh, and I can only hope we will never see another day like it again.
“I cannot begin to imagine what the family and friends involved are going through, and they should be in all our thoughts and prayers right now. We grieve with them.
“West Highland communities are close-knit, we are warm and welcoming, and this will shatter us to the core. It feels like our very heart has been ripped apart. I, and I am sure many others, never thought we would see such an awful day. Not a single West Highland home will be untouched by this terrible tragedy.
“I would also like to thank Police Scotland and the other emergency services for their ongoing efforts and investigations. I stress again what the police have already said, a man is in custody, there is no further threat to public safety and it is not believed to be a terrorist incident.”
MP Ian Blackford also shared his shock over the turn of events in a tweet and thanked police for their response.
