A father-of-two who died when a car ploughed into a crowd of people as he tried to assist a stranger will be remembered for “helping others”, the church he attended said in a tribute.
Chris Marriott, 46, was walking with his wife and two young sons – aged eight and six – when he went to the aid of a woman he found lying unconscious in Sheffield on Wednesday afternoon.
It is believed that the woman had been involved in an altercation between a group of people.
Police said a call had been made reporting a violent disturbance on College Close, in the Burngreave area, and two men have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Tributes have mounted for Mr Marriott, who has been described as a “Good Samaritan” by police and was a much-loved member of his church.
He worked for the charity Community Money Advice (CMA), helped set up and run the Jubilee Food Bank in Sheffield and was a member of City Church, in the city.
The church group ChristCentral, which includes City Church, said in a statement that everyone was “deeply shocked” by Mr Marriott’s death.
It said: “Chris died doing what so many will remember him for, helping others.
“He had stopped to help an unconscious woman lying in the street and as he was providing first aid, a car collided with Chris, the woman and others.
“Our thoughts and prayers are obviously with his wife, and their two young sons.
“This is an unbelievably awful situation and we are heartbroken for the family.
“Please pray for them, for Chris’ wider family and friends, and for City Church Sheffield as they try to process this loss.”
According to the CMA website, Mr Marriott was the charity’s IT manager but had previously worked as a debt adviser in a CMA-affiliated debt advice centre in South Yorkshire.
It said that he previously worked for a large group of museums as their head of operations & commercial development, and “also spent some time working for his local church, overseeing a number of community-based projects”.
South Yorkshire Police confirmed that Mr Marriott was out for a post-Christmas walk with his family when he went to the aid of the woman just after 2pm on Wednesday.
Several other people suffered injuries during the incident, including an off-duty midwife who had also stopped to help.
A police spokeswoman said the woman Mr Marriott was helping remains in hospital in a life-threatening condition.
She said the off-duty midwife suffered minor injuries, another man received serious injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening and four further people, three women and a man, suffered minor injuries.
A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and a 55-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
Both remained in custody on Friday morning.
Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Knowles said: “This is an utterly heartbreaking case in which a Good Samaritan, who had stepped in to help a stranger in their time of need, has lost his life.
“Chris leaves behind a loving family including his devastated wife and two young sons.
“We are absolutely determined to secure justice for Chris and his loved ones following this horrific tragedy.”
Burngreave residents said the incident happened outside a house at the junction of College Close and College Court, two quiet cul-de-sacs of modern houses near Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital.
Neighbours said the altercation was related to some kind of dispute between two families relating to a wedding.
Mr Knowles said: “Increased patrols will continue in the area in the coming days and local people will continue to see officers carrying out inquiries, including going house to house to gather witness statements.
“There are people in that community who hold information which is vital to our investigation and have not yet given statements.
“I want to be able to get to the bottom of what happened for Chris and his family.
“I need those people with information to do the right thing.”
Tarek Nayli, 49, said he came out of his nearby home to see fighting in the street, a number of injured people and neighbours telling him there were others trapped under a car.
Mr Nayli said: “I heard a lot of sound, a lot of voices, a lot of shouting.
“When I came out, I found people all gathering around and people fighting. One guy had a lot of blood on his face.”
Mr Nayli said: “The whole neighbourhood was out.”
He said: “They said there were people underneath the car and when the police came they managed to get them out.
“When the police came, they flipped the car over and they’ve taken two people out.”
He said: “It was very, very sad and also very upsetting and I couldn’t believe it. All of a sudden you find people dead and a very big crime. This is a disaster.”
