5 dead, 40 injured in car rampage, knife attack in London

LONDON (AP) — Two hours after an attack and lockdown Wednesday, people begin to leave Britain’s Houses of Parliament.

An attacker stabbed a police officer and was shot by police on the grounds outside Britain’s Parliament, sending the compound into lockdown Wednesday. Around the same time, a vehicle mowed down pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge. Authorities said they were treating the attack as a “terrorist incident until we know otherwise.”

Emergency services at the scene outside the Palace of Westminster, London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. London police say they are treating a gun and knife incident at Britain’s Parliament “as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise.” The Metropolitan Police says in a statement that the incident is ongoing. It is urging people to stay away from the area. Officials say a man with a knife attacked a police officer at Parliament and was shot by officers. Nearby, witnesses say a vehicle struck several people on the Westminster Bridge. | Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, St. George News

It was not clear how many people were injured or whether more than one attacker was involved. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The threat level for international terrorism in the UK was listed at severe. Wednesday was the anniversary of suicide bombings in the Brussels airport and subway that killed 32 people.

The incident in London unfolded within sight of some of the city’s most famous tourist sites, including the London Eye, a large Ferris wheel with pods that have views over the capital. It stopped rotating and footage showed the pods full as viewers watched police and medical crews on the bridge, which has Big Ben at its north end.

Labour Party lawmaker Mary Creagh said it was her understanding that between five and seven people were mowed down on the bridge. Rick Longley told the Press Association that he heard a bang and saw a car mow down pedestrians and come to a crashing stop. Images from the scene showed pedestrians sprawled on the ground, with blood streaming from a woman surrounded by a scattering of postcards.

Police secure the area close to the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. The leader of Britain’s House of Commons says a man has been shot by police at Parliament. David Liddington also said there were “reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity.” London’s police said officers had been called to a firearms incident on Westminster Bridge, near the parliament. Britain’s MI5 says it is too early to say if the incident is terror-related. | AP Photo/Matt Dunham, St. George News

“They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben,” he said. “A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman. I have never seen anything like that. I just can’t believe what I just saw.”

Dennis Burns, who was just entering Parliament for a meeting, told the Press Association he heard a radio message saying an officer had been stabbed. Police and security rushed outside as he was going in.

“When I got inside I was wondering what the hell was going on and I saw dozens of panicked people running down the street,” he said. “The first stream was around 30 people and the second stream was 70 people. It looked like they were running for their lives.”

Daily Mail journalist Quentin Letts said he saw a man in black attack a police officer outside Parliament before being shot two or three times as he tried to storm into the House of Commons.

Emergency services transport an injured person to an ambulance, close to the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. London police say they are treating a gun and knife incident at Britain’s Parliament “as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise.” The Metropolitan Police says in a statement that the incident is ongoing. Officials say a man with a knife attacked a police officer at Parliament and was shot by officers. Nearby, witnesses say a vehicle struck several people on the Westminster Bridge. | AP Photo/Matt Dunham, St. George News

“He had something in his hand, it looked like a stick of some sort, and he was challenged by a couple of policemen in yellow jackets,” Letts told the BBC. “And one of the yellow-jacketed policemen fell down and we could see the man in black moving his arm in a way that suggested he was stabbing or striking the yellow-jacketed policeman.”

Lett said the other officer ran to get help and the man in black ran toward the entrance.

“As this attacker was running towards the entrance two plain-clothed guys with guns shouted at him what sounded like a warning, he ignored it and they shot two or three times and he fell,” he said.

As lawmakers were voting inside Parliament, they reported hearing the sound of gunshots.

Journalists there said they were told to stay in their offices. Press Association news agency reported that two people were seen lying within the grounds of Parliament.

Prime Minister Theresa May was at Parliament when the incident began, but her office says she is safe.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m. The head of counterterrorism at London’s Metropolitan Police, says four people have died in the terror incident in London, including an attacker and a police officer. Mark Rowley says some 20 people have been wounded and Parliament was locked down.

UPDATE 12:20 p.m. The White House is condemning the attacks in London involving a car rampage and knife attack. President Donald Trump is said to be monitoring developments. Spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May and said that the White House applauds “the quick response of British police and first responders” and condemns the attacks.

A vehicle mowed down pedestrians on a bridge and the attacker then stabbed a police officer outside the British Parliament. At least four people died, including the attacker and a police officer. Spicer says that the city of London and the British government have the “full support” of the U.S. as they investigate the attack.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department says the security posture in the United States has not changed in the wake of the attack.

UPDATE 12:45 p.m. Video added

UPDATE 4:28 p.m.  Police say 1 police officer, three civilians, and attacker died in terror incident; 40 people injured.

Written by JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press, and DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press. Paisley Dodds in London and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Basics

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

14 Comments

  • comments March 22, 2017 at 11:46 am

    Without reading the article let me guess: moslems.

    • JOSH DALTON March 22, 2017 at 1:15 pm

      “Muslim” Well we know it was not a unarmed Black Man in the USA. One he is not dead, two they did not spend the entire clip into his back.

      • comments March 22, 2017 at 2:48 pm

        Care to elaborate a bit on this opinion? I’m curious to your line of thinking with this?

        • Real Life March 22, 2017 at 6:54 pm

          Yeah, just what is your angle Josh? Islam is not a religion. It is a disease.

        • .... March 23, 2017 at 12:57 am

          Oh poor little cry baby Bob got his feelings hurt because Bob can’t spell right……whaaaaaaaaas whaaaaaaaaaa

      • comments March 22, 2017 at 5:49 pm

        Dalton you know a lot of these police are terrified of black people? They have had so many violent encounters with young black men that they learn to expect the worse out of them. Black criminality and glorification of thug culture are huge problems. There is of course some racism to factor into things, but does this justify young black men victimizing innocent citizens (mostly black victims too) and police. But according to BLM every black person is a victim, so they aren’t responsible when they victimize people?

  • comments March 22, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Of course the AP doesn’t even want to tell us if it was a middle eastern/arab muslim immigrant because they think that would be “racist”. Canada is actually making it a crime to criticize the muslim religion. My advise to Canadians: now’s the time to prepare, because you’re worst enemy at this time is your own gov’t. Once they start slicing into free speech (giving the ideology of Islam a special protected status) it usually means the worst will follow.

    • .... March 23, 2017 at 12:54 am

      Oh they just leave that up to you because your such a blow know it all

  • Rainbow Dash March 22, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    Thank God for the common sense anti-gun laws the U.K has. You, know the ones that prevent the mentally-ill, criminals and terrorists from getting guns?

    • comments March 22, 2017 at 5:42 pm

      Except many times the muslims have been able to smuggle in automatic weapons into countries that have banned guns and then they just mow down the people like sheep to the slaughter. And if the people were armed they could oppose these tyrannical gov’ts that are forcing muslim terrorism on them in the first place. A gov’t should be scared of the armed citizenry. It’s about the only thing that keeps then in check. A disarmed citizenry are helpless and easy to control.

    • Henry March 22, 2017 at 5:48 pm

      Must be similar to the anti-gun laws in France, Belgium, and Germany, which didn’t prevent their terrorist attacks either.

      • Rainbow Dash March 23, 2017 at 2:51 pm

        Henry,

        No amount of laws or regulations will prevent terrorists and criminals from committing terroristic and criminal acts if that’s what they want to do. Everything can be gotten if someone has the will and the means to acquire whatever it is they want. Do common sense gun laws prevent anyone from getting a gun if they really want one? Heck no. Would they deter would be criminals terrorists from getting guns? In my opinion, yes.

        In my opinion there’s two things we can do to maybe combat the issue of gun crime:
        1) Issue EVERYONE a gun on their 18th birthday and train them how to use it.
        2) Craft and enforce gun laws that bar the sale of guns to anyone who not a sane, law abiding citizen. In my opinion If you’ve been convicted of a high level Misdemeanor or Felony, you should not be able to buy or own any gun. The same goes if you have been diagnosed with certain mental disorders or psychoses.

        Quite frankly, I don’t understand conservatives ‘hesitation’ on background checks. If I went to buy a gun and the shop requested a background check before purchase, I would gladly fill out the form. Why wouldn’t I? I have NOTHING to hide.

        • comments March 23, 2017 at 8:19 pm

          In my opinion If you’ve been convicted of a high level Misdemeanor or Felony, you should not be able to buy or own any gun

          If I went to buy a gun and the shop requested a background check before purchase
          —————————————–

          Both are already laws, rainbow. Have u ever bought a gun?

        • Henry March 23, 2017 at 9:27 pm

          Rainbow Dash – my response addressed the application of anti-gun laws to prevent terrorist attacks in Europe. You’ve expanded the parameters of the debate to include the access of guns in the U.S. to lessen crime. That’s a topic that’s well beyond the scope of me being able to discuss in a paragraph. I’m sure we’ll have a future St George News article on the topic, and we can fully flesh out positions.

          However, in response to your statement, “Would they (gun laws) deter would be criminal terrorists from getting guns? In my opinion, yes.” I think anti-gun laws would have an impact on criminals, but not on potential terrorists. The attackers in France, Belgium, and Germany were all able to access guns, despite them legally not being able to possess them.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.