LONDON (AP) — The Latest on stabbings at a shopping center in Manchester, England (all times local):

3:45 p.m.

Police in northwestern England say a man held in connection with a series of stabbings at a shopping center has been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of an act of terrorism.

Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said authorities do not know the motive for Friday's attack, but "it appears random, is certainly brutal and of course, extremely frightening for anyone who witnessed it."

Jackson said several people were injured.

Police say the man entered the Arndale shopping center in Manchester at 11:15 a.m. armed with a large knife. Two unarmed police officers confronted him, and he chased the officers as they called for urgent assistance.

2:25 p.m.

Counterterror police are leading an investigation into a stabbing incident that injured four people at a shopping center in northwestern England.

Greater Manchester Police said a man in his 40s was been arrested on suspicion of serious assault. No deaths were reported from the incident at the center in central Manchester on Friday.

The police force said investigators "are keeping an open mind about the motivation of this terrible incident and the circumstances as we know them."

It added: "Given the location of the incident and its nature, officers from Counter Terrorism Police North West are leading the investigation as we determine the circumstances."

Police initially reported five people injured but later reduced the number. Two women and a man were hospitalized. Paramedics assessed the fourth person, who wasn't stabbed and didn't go to the hospital.

12:50 p.m.

Authorities in Manchester say they have arrested one man over a stabbing incident at a shopping center that left four people injured.

Police say no fatalities have been reported from the attack in the northwestern English city,

Greater Manchester Police say a man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of serious assault. He had been taken into custody.

The North West Ambulance Service says that it treated four people in a stabbing after being called to the Arndale shopping center at 11.17 a.m. Friday.