Other MoA event in Calder, Edinburgh, Calder Gardens area, United Kingdom on Mon 2nd March 2026

Two people in hospital as armed police called to deal with knifeman in Edinburgh
Schools and local services in the Calder area of the capital were placed on lockdown after a man brandishing two large knives was captured on social media images

Two people are in hospital after armed police raced to an Edinburgh housing scheme where a man with a large knife was on the rampage.

Two people were found injured in Calder Gardens in the Calder area of the capital after the alarm was raised at 8.25am on Monday. They have been taken to Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where their condition is unknown.

Footage circulating on social media shows a man walking in the area holding two large knives, as well as a shop which had been damaged. Police have said the incident was "not terror related" and declared there is no longer any "risk to the wider public".

However, the city council said all schools and council buildings in the Calders area were on lockdown, while Lothian Buses said its number 20 service was being diverted until further notice.

Photos from the scene show the man who is alleged to have been involved in the incident at the window of an 11th floor flat in the multi-storey block, Cobbinshaw House, looking down at the crowd below.

William Ramsay, who lives in the area in the west of the city, said he believed the man with the weapons had entered the stairwell of his building. "He smashed the local shop, possibly stabbed two people unconfirmed," he told the Press Association. "Armed police, dogs been here for about two hours."

A crowd gathered around the tower block, with some members of the public shouting up at the man, before police then moved the cordon further back.

A council spokesperson said: "We're aware of an ongoing incident in the Calder area of the city and are continuing to support Police Scotland. Following police advice, all council buildings nearby, including schools and early years centres, were closed to the public. We're hoping to be able to reopen these shortly and are continuing to keep parents and local residents updated."
The Scottish Ambulance Service sent three ambulances, three paramedic response units and a special operations response team to the scene.

Chief Inspector Scott Kennedy said: "The earlier disturbance in the Calder area of Edinburgh is now contained and there is not believed to be any wider risk to the public. The incident is not being treated as terror-related. Officers were called to reports of a man with a bladed weapon on Calder Gardens around 8.25am.