A knife-wielding man who allegedly went on a stabbing rampage in south London has been shot dead by police after wounding at least three civilians.
London’s Metropolitan Police has declared the attack a “terror-related incident” which saw three people stabbed in broad daylight.
A 19-year-old student reported seeing a man armed with “a machete and silver canisters on his chest”, fuelling fears he may have had a bomb strapped to his body.
“The man was then shot. I think I heard three gunshots but I can’t quite remember,” Gulled Bulhan told Britain’s Press Association.
The man carrying a large knife reportedly entered a shop in the Streatham neighbourhood about 2 pm local time on Sunday and started randomly stabbing people.
Several witnesses at the scene say the man had on grey pants, black shoes and what appeared to be something resembling a suicide vest
After leaving the local store, he allegedly knifed a female cyclist.
#INCIDENT A man has been shot by armed officers in #Streatham. At this stage it is believed a number of people have been stabbed. The circumstances are being assessed; the incident has been declared as terrorist-related. Please follow @metpoliceuk for updates
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) February 2, 2020
The BBC said witnesses reported hearing three gunshots moments after the terror suspect attempted to flee.
Armed officers shot the man who was under active police surveillance at the time of the incident, the BBC reported.
Three people had sustained injuries and were treated by paramedics at the scene before all being taken to hospital.
Streatham resident Nardos Mulugeta recalled hearing gunshots then seeing victims lying hurt on the ground.
“I went over and I saw the first victim, a male victim on the ground, near the White Lion Pub, and people were helping him,” the 52-year-old told the PA news agency.
“Then five minutes later a woman came over and said ‘I’ve been stabbed too in the back’. And then people starting helping her.
“I saw one body laying down further away. He was face-down between Argos and Iceland. It’s really scary.”
Terror attack on #StreathamHighStreet #London
Just months after London Bridge attack.#Streatham pic.twitter.com/Ske5D0tkJX
— FLashari (@FJLashari) February 2, 2020
Deputy assistant police commissioner Stephen Roberts said police would quickly try to search the suspect’s residence and seize any computer devices to scour his internet records.
Investigators are researching the man’s background to learn more about the attack and any possible co-conspirators, Mr Roberts said.
Mr Roberts said if the facts show the stabbings were carried out by a “self-starter”, it meant that any city in the country was vulnerable at any time to a similar sort of low-tech attack.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised emergency workers while London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged community resolve in the face of another attack.
“Terrorists seek to divide us and to destroy our way of life,” he said.
“Here in London we will never let them succeed.”
The attack came just a little over two months after two people were stabbed on London Bridge by a man who had recently been released from prison, where he was serving a 16-year sentence for plotting a terror attack.
British authorities on November 4 reduced the national threat level to “substantial”, meaning an attack is considered likely.
That is the third highest level in a five-step alert system used in the UK and marks the first time the threat level has been so low since August 2014.
-with AAP
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