Scottish Highlands: Man dies and three others injured in ‘linked’ attacks

A 47-year-old man has died and three others injured in a spate of attacks involving a firearm and knives in the Scottish Highlands.

Police Scotland have arrested a 39-year-old man in connection with three incidents – two on the Isle of Skye and another at neighbouring Dornie – and said they were being treated as linked.

A 32-year-old woman was airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, following the first incident shortly after 9am on Wednesday.

Around 30 minutes later, in the Teangue area of Skye, a firearm was discharged. A 47-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers then attended a property in the Dornie area of Wester Ross where a weapon was also fired.

Two victims, a man and a woman, were injured with the male taken by helicopter to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness with “serious injuries”. The woman was taken to Broadford Hospital on Skye.

A 39-year-old man who has been arrested in connection with all of the incidents was also taken to Raigmore Hospital. 

Kate Forbes, the local MSP, described the news as “simply devastating” and said it had been “the worst day that I can ever recall in the history of Skye and Lochalsh”.

“West Highland communities are close-knit, we are warm and welcoming, and this will shatter us to the core,” she added.

“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.”

Multiple ambulances, air ambulances and a special operations response team were sent to the incidents. An emergency medical retrieval service (EMRS) team also attended the scenes, the Scottish Ambulance Service said.