Three people were this afternoon being questioned on suspicion of murder after a 23-year-old man was stabbed in a Shrewsbury park.

The incident happened at about 6pm yesterday on the Monkmoor Recreation Ground following a dispute involving up to 20 young men.

The victim, named locally as Scott Cooke, was rushed to hospital but died shortly before 7pm, police said.

• See more pictures from the scene in our gallery to your right

One man was arrested at an address near Shrewsbury last night. A second man was arrested in Shrewsbury at around 4.30am today and a third man was detained at 7.45am in Telford.

The three suspects, all in their 20s, are being questioned at police stations in Shrewsbury and Telford.

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Andrews today urged all of the men present at the time of the stabbing to come forward.

He said: “It appears there was a confrontation involving a number of people resulting in a man receiving stab wounds,” he said.

“I am appealing for witnesses to contact the police as a matter of urgency by calling 101. It is vitally important anyone present at the recreation ground comes forward without delay.

“We already have a number of witnesses but we want all those who were present during this disturbance to contact us now rather than the police coming to them in the coming days.”

A Home Office pathologist is expected to carry out a post mortem later today.

The recreation ground remained sealed off this afternoon, with officers guarding the entrances.

Tributes have been paid to Mr Cooke, who attended Belvidere School in Crowmere Road, on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter by members of his family, as well as some of his friends.

Floral tributes have been placed by police tape at the Racecourse Crescent entrance of the recreation ground.

One note said: “Scotty RIP this life will never be the same without you. Save us a space up there. You will always be in our hearts and thoughts.”
Mr Cooke’s family were too upset to speak today.

Shrewsbury Mayor Tony Durnell, who represents the Monkmoor ward on Shropshire Council, and who knew Mr Cooke, said the community was shocked by last night’s events. He said: “This is a close-knit community and when something like this happens it is tragic.

“I just hope people, and young people in particular, will realise knives are dangerous.”

Nigel Humphries, who lives opposite the recreation centre, said that he had been driving past the scene at the time of the incident.

He said he had seen a man ‘lying on the floor’, who was picked up by people who got out of a car at the recreation centre.

“As he pulled in, I reversed back a bit so that I could see what was going on.

“A couple of lads jumped in, it could have been two or three.

“One jumped out and grabbed his legs from the one end and the other grabbed his arms and lifted him into the back of the car and then they drove off in the car,” he said.

“They took this lad away, they threw him in the back of the car. He was just lying on the floor.”

A resident from Racecourse Crescent, who did not wish to be named, said: “I can’t believe it, I found out what had happened last night when I tried to take the dog for a walk through the recreation ground and couldn’t get through because of the police.

“This is a lovely area and you don’t expect something like this to happen here.”

Another resident on Racecourse Crescent, added: “It is very shocking that this has happened in this area.”