British-born London attacker identified
Two ‘significant’ arrests made as fourth victim dies from injuries
The man who killed four people in a terrorist attack on the British Parliament on Wednesday was a convert to Islam who had spent several spells in jail for criminal activity, police said.
Khalid Masood, 52, was born Adrian Russell Ajao and was convicted of several crimes between 1983 and 2003. It is not clear when he converted to Islam.
The details emerged as a fourth person died from injuries received at the hands of Masood. Leslie Rhodes, 75, from London was hit by Masood’s car on Westminster Bridge.
The other victims were PC Keith Palmer, who was stabbed outside the parliament, Spanish woman Aysha Frade, who lived in London and Kurt Cochran, from Utah in the United States, who was in London to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife, who was also hurt.
Fifty people were injured in the attack on Wednesday, 31 received hospital treatment and one has life-threatening injuries, police said.
Masood drove a car along the pavement of Westminster Bridge, then crashed the car and stabbed a police officer to death, before being shot dead by armed police.
Fei Mingxing, consul general at the Chinese Embassy in London, confirmed that a young Chinese woman in her 20s was among the victims.
“The Chinese tourist was hit by the assailant’s car when she was standing by the Houses of Parliament, hailing a taxi from a mobile application with a friend. She lost consciousness after the incident before waking up and finding herself lying in the hospital,” Fei said.
He added that the victim suffered a bone fracture near her shoulder and bruising, but her injuries were not lifethreatening and she could be discharged within a week.
On Thursday night, thousands of people from all over the world held a vigil in London’s Trafalgar Square, less than 1 kilometer from where the attacks took place.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told the crowds: “Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.”
Police said they made two significant arrests on Friday as they try to uncover more about Masood’s life and motivation. Media reports suggested that Masood had taught English as a foreign language in Saudi Arabia and in Birmingham, where he lived.
Police said they are combing through “massive amounts of computer data” and more than 2,500 items seized in searches across the country as they look for clues about why Masood carried out the attack.
In a briefing outside Scotland Yard, London’s top counterterror officer Mark Rowley said: “We’ve seized 2,700 items from these searches, including massive amounts of computer data.” He added that contact had been made with 3,500 witnesses.
“We’ve received hundreds of uploads of video images to our online platform. Given this attack was in the heart of the capital we also, of course, are dealing with statements from a wide range of nationalities.”
Islamic State said on Thursday the attack was carried out by one of its “soldiers”, although there was no indication it knew Masood’s identity or anything about him.
The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said on Thursday that the attacker “carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting citizens of the coalition”, referring to the group of countries fighting against IS.
“We’ve seized 2,700 items ... including massive amounts of computer data.” Mark Rowley, Britain’s counterterrorism chief