LONDON—A man wearing a suspected hoax explosive device was shot dead by armed officers on London Bridge on Friday after what police said was a terrorist stabbing spree, reviving memories of another horrific attack 2 years ago that killed 8.
Footage on Twitter filmed by eyewitnesses showed a scrum of people tackling a man on the ground before specialist armed officers arrived and shot him dead as he tried to get up.
It is not known how many people were injured in the stabbing spree before the shooting but London Mayor Sadiq Khan said several people were "seriously" hurt.
Khan said members of the public risked their own safety to try to disarm the suspect. "They are the best of us," he told reporters.
The events came less than 2 weeks before an election at which Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes to win a majority to enable him to take Britain out of the European Union.
The prime minister cut short a visit to his constituency in northwest London to return to his Downing Street office for a briefing by the police.
'Enough is enough,' PM May says after London attackers kill 7
Both Johnson's Conservatives and the main opposition Labour party have both pledged to put at least 20,000 more officers on the streets.
But Britain's impending Brexit has raised questions about the extent of continued cooperation with Europe on security and intelligence matters.
New European Council President Charles Michel said he had been "very saddened to hear the dramatic reports" from London, adding: "The fight against terrorism is a common fight."
Johnson praised the emergency services for their response, adding: "This country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack.
"Our values, our British values will prevail."
MOTIVE UNKNOWN
The attack happened on so-called "Black Friday," one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the run-up to Christmas, bringing more shoppers onto the streets.
The Metropolitan Police said it was called at 1:58 pm (9:58 p.m. Manila time) to a stabbing near the bridge, which links The City financial district to the south bank of the River Thames.
"A male suspect was shot by specialist armed officers," Neil Basu, the head of UK counter-terrorism policing, told reporters outside New Scotland Yard police headquarters.
"This suspect died at the scene. It has been declared a terrorist incident. We retain an open mind as to any motive.
"We believe a device that was strapped to the body of the suspect was a hoax explosive device."
Several people were seen in video footage apparently surrounding the man on the ground.
One man, wearing a suit and tie, was seen retreating from the scene, with what appeared to be a large knife in his right hand.
Three armed officers then appeared on the scene and surrounded the scrum. One officer pulled a man away before 2 shots appeared to be fired.
An eyewitness told reporters: "He was on the ground with a knife near him, and a bag near him and then they surrounded him and armed police shot him."
Another told the BBC she and other people in the area rushed into a nearby restaurant and were told by staff to take cover under tables.
The bridge was closed off, with evacuated buses at a standstill, and a white truck straddling the carriageways. Forensics officers were at the scene.
Johnson thanked the police and all emergency services "for their immediate response."
A White House spokesman said US President Donald Trump had been briefed on the attack and was monitoring the situation.
Trump, who has previously criticized Mayor Khan and stabbings in the British capital, is due to visit next week for a NATO summit.
THREAT LEVEL DOWNGRADED
Britain downgraded its terrorism threat level from "severe," the second-highest of 5 levels, to "substantial" on Nov. 4, its lowest rating in more than 5 years.
British officials consider a terrorist attack "likely" when the threat level is substantial, and "highly likely" when it is severe.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, an organization made up of government departments and other public bodies, makes the decision after weighing up intelligence and information on known terror groups.
The 2017 attack involved Islamist extremists in a van who ploughed into pedestrians on London Bridge before attacking people at random with knives in nearby Borough Market.
Eight people were killed and 48 others injured. The 3 attackers, who were wearing fake suicide devices, were shot dead by police.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - At least six people were killed
by militants who drove a van at high speed into pedestrians on London
Bridge and then stabbed revelers in the nearby Borough Market area on
Saturday.
For the main story on the attack:
All three attackers were shot dead by police. More than 30 injured people were taken to hospital.
The following is what is known so far:
- Three attackers drove a white van at high speed into pedestrians walking on London Bridge, police said.
A witness told Reuters that at least six people were hit on the bridge.
"It looked like he was aiming for groups of people. I froze because I didn't know what to do," Mark Roberts, a 53-year-old management consultant, told Reuters. "It was horrendous."
- The men armed with knives left the vehicle and attacked people in the nearby Borough Market area on the south side of the Thames, witnesses said.
Witnesses said the attackers stabbed people in the street and in pubs and restaurants in Borough Market.
- Police said armed police had responded to the reports of stabbings in Borough Market and shots had been fired.
"Armed response officers then responded very quickly and bravely and confronted the three male suspects who were shot and killed on Borough Market," Mark Rowley, Britain's top anti-terrorism officer, said.
"The suspects had been confronted and shot by police within eight minutes of the first call. The suspects were wearing what looked like explosive vests but these were later established to be hoaxes," he said.
The men were wearing what appeared to be canisters attached to their bodies. One of them was shown in a photograph lying on the ground outside the Wheatsheaf pub.
Another man, was also reported to be an attacker, was pictured on the ground a short distance away. Witnesses said they heard gunfire in the area.
The police said the vests were later established to be hoaxes. A Reuters reporter nearby said he heard loud bangs afterwards that may have been controlled explosions.
- Terror attack? At 0025 British time on Sunday the incidents at London Bridge and Borough Market were declared as terrorist incidents.
"Following updates from police and security officials, I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism," Prime Minister Theresa May said just over four days before voting is due to begin in a June 8 national election.
"This is a fast moving investigation," May said. "I want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services who are on the scene. Our thoughts are with those who are caught up in these dreadful events."
May will chair a meeting of Britain's "COBR" emergency response committee on Sunday morning. Intelligence and security chiefs as well as senior ministers and officials attend the meeting.
London's Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command is leading the investigation.
- Who? It was not clear who might be responsible for the attack.
Islamic State earlier on Saturday sent out a call on instant messaging service Telegram urging its followers to launch attacks with trucks, knives and guns against "Crusaders" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
- The attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber Salman Abedi blew himself up at a concert in Manchester on May 22, killing at least 22.
Britain raised its terror threat to the highest level of "critical" and deployed troops on the streets on May 23, a day after the Manchester suicide attack. The critical level means another attack could be imminent. It was reduced to "severe", which means an attack is highly likely, on May 27.
On March 22, Khalid Masood plowed a rented car into pedestrians and stabbed a policeman to death before being shot dead. Five were killed by the attacker.
- The United Kingdom is due to hold a national election on June 8.
- US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the UK, we will be there - WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!"
- A separate incident in Vauxhall, two miles away, was not related to the other two incidents police said.
(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - British armed police rushed to three incidents in central London on Saturday after a van plowed into pedestrians on London Bridge and reports of multiple stabbings in the nearby Borough Market area.
Police sent out security advice to Londoners on Twitter saying "run, hide, tell" if they were caught in an attack. The BBC cited police as saying there had been more than one fatality.
The attacks come days ahead of a June 8 election and less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a pop concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
"A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps," a taxi driver told the BBC. "It knocked loads of people down.
"Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random."
Prime Minister Theresa May had been informed and was being kept updated, her office said, while U.S. President Donald Trump had also been briefed by his national security team, the White House said.
One woman told Reuters she saw what appeared to be three people with knife wounds and possibly their throats cut at London Bridge at the Thames river. Reuters was unable to immediately verify her account.
STABBINGS ON THE STREET
Police said they fired shots after reports of stabbings in the nearby Borough Market area, and that they were also responding to an incident in the Vauxhall area further west, but gave no immediate details.
Streets in the area would have been busy with people on a Saturday night out. BBC showed dozens of people, evidently having been caught up in the attack, being escorted through a police cordon with their hands on their heads.
British Transport Police said casualties were reported after an incident that may have involved a van and a knife attack, while the London Ambulance Service said it was sending multiple resources to the incident near London Bridge.
One witness told the BBC she saw a speeding white van veering into pedestrians at London Bridge. That witness said the van hit five to six people. Reuters television pictures showed dozens of emergency vehicles in the area around London Bridge.
Several witnesses also reported hearing gunshots.
"We were in an Uber (taxi) going towards London Bridge and suddenly we saw people running. The Uber stopped, we asked people what was going on – people said there was shooting," said Yoann Belmere, 40, a French banker living in London.
"Now the area is completely closed with police cars going one way and ambulances going the other," he told Reuters.
The incident bore similarities to a March attack on Westminster Bridge, west of London Bridge, in which a man killed five people after driving into a crowd of pedestrians before stabbing a police officer in the grounds of parliament.
A witness told CNN two men had entered a restaurant in the Borough Market area near London Bridge and stabbed two people inside. He said a waitress was stabbed in the throat and a man was stabbed in the back.
The Manchester bombing on May 22 was the deadliest attack in Britain since July 2005, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in coordinated attacks on London's transport network.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Nick Tattersall; Editing by William Schomberg and Ralph Boulton)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
