Labour MP Jo Cox has been confirmed dead hours after being shot outside her advice surgery near the city of Leeds. Both sides in Britain’s EU referendum debate have suspended campaigning following the attack.

Dee Collins, Deputy Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police announced Cox’s death in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

The 41-year-old was shot close to her constituency advice surgery in Birstall, near Leeds in northern England, earlier in the day.

DCC Collins said the the mother-of-two was reportedly shot in the face three times and attacked with a knife, adding that a full investigation was underway to establish a motive for the murder.

The UK’s Press Association news agency cited eyewitnesses who said the MP for the constituency of Batley and Spen appeared to be involved in a struggle in the street with a man, who pulled out a gun. Cox was left bleeding on the pavement and another man was also injured.

Police later said they believe the attack was a localized incident and they were not looking for anyone else than the 51-year-old man arrested earlier in the day, named locally as Tommy Mair.

In a statement on its website later, Britain First said the media was “desperately trying to incriminate” the party in the attack, adding that it was “NOT involved and would never encourage behaviour of this sort.” The party said it was praying that Jo Cox would make a full recovery.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn issued a statement saying the whole the party and country “will be in shock” at her “horrific murder.”

Paying tribute to her work, he said she “was dedicated to getting us to live up to our promises to support the developing world and strengthen human rights – and she brought those values and principles with her when she became an MP.”

Cox was elected to Britain’s parliament in 2015 after a career as an aid worker for Oxfam. Part of her constituency – the town of Batley – is among the poorest in the country, part of an EU transformation zone, and has a high immigrant population.

She was critical of Britain’s reluctance to deepen its involvement in the fightback against “Islamic State” militants in Syria. She also campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU.

Following the attack, both the pro and anti-European Union camps have temporarily suspended their campaigns, with just a week to go until Britons vote on their country’s membership of the bloc.

Cameron tweeted that he wouldn’t travel to Gibraltar for a campaign rally on Thursday evening.