Police make further arrests in Shrewsbury murder inquiry
Police conducting a murder inquiry into the death of a 23-year-old Shrewsbury man, have made further arrests.
Five men have now been arrested in connection with an incident which resulted in a man being taken to hospital with stab wounds.
He was pronounced dead at 6.55pm last night soon after arriving at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The man, named locally as Jason Cooke but known as Scott Cooke, was injured during a fight at the Monkmoor Recreation Ground in Shrewsbury a short time earlier.
West Mercia Police launched a murder inquiry and arrested five young men at addresses in Shrewsbury and Telford last night and today.
Three of them have been detained on suspicion of murder. A fourth man was arrested this afternoon on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. All four are in their twenties.
Another man, aged 19, was arrested on suspicion of assisting a suspected offender.
The men remain in police custody at Shrewsbury and Telford. Detectives will be seeking an extension to allow further time for questioning.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Andrews, the senior investigating officer, said: "We are still in the early stages of this investigation and it is absolutely vital everyone with any information which might assist the police, comes forward sooner than later.
"I am particularly appealing to anyone who was present at Monkmoor Recreation Ground at around 6pm when this confrontation involving up to 20 young men took place. We have already traced a number of those in attendance and I urge anyone else who was there, to contact Shrewsbury police station by calling 101.
"Get in touch now. We will eventually obtain everyone's name so it is best they contact the police now rather than wait for us to come calling. We need to establish the full facts and the involvement or otherwise of everyone who was there."
DCI Andrews said the investigation involved a large team of officers and was making good progress. "A number of scenes are being examined by forensic and search teams in connection with the incident and this work is likely to continue for the next few days".
The man who died has not yet been formally identified. A post mortem to establish the exact cause of death was carried out this afternoon by Home Office pathologist Dr Sacha Kolar.
