Terror in London: Shots outside UK Parliament
Cop knifed; 4 die, many critical; PM safe; MPs evacuated
London, March 22: An assailant stabbed a policeman and was shot dead by the police just outside the British Parliament in central London on Wednesday in what the police described as a “terrorist incident”. Amid confusing scenes, it appeared the incident may have unfolded in several locations, including on nearby Westminster Bridge where eyewitnesses said a car had crashed into pedestrians. Two people died in the incident, according to Sky News. There were also reports that as many as five people were “mowed down”. Late-night reports said four people were dead.
The House of Commons, which was in session at the time, was immediately suspended and MPs were asked to stay inside. They were later evacuated from the premises. Prime Minister Theresa May was seen being ushered into a car as what sounded like gunfire rang out at Parliament during the incident, BBC said.
Ms May was safe after the incident, a spokesman said. He declined to say where Ms May was when the attack took place.
House of Commons leader David Lidington told MPs the “alleged assailant was shot by armed police”.
“Officers — including firearms officers — remain on the scene and
we are treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise,” said London’s Metropolitan Police in a statement.
The incident took place on the first anniversary of attacks by Islamist militants that killed 32 people in Brussels.
Reporters inside the Parliament building heard loud bangs and shortly afterwards saw two people lying on the ground in a courtyard just outside, within the perimeter of the parliamentary estate. A Reuters photographer said he saw at least a dozen people injured on Westminster Bridge, next to
Parliament. His photographs showed people lying on the ground, some of them bleeding heavily and one apparently under a bus.
“I just saw a car go out of control, and just go into pedestrians on the bridge,” a woman who gave her name as Bernadette told Sky News. She was on a tour bus on the bridge at the time. “As we were going across the bridge, we saw people lying on the floor, they were obviously injured. I saw about 10 people maybe. And then the emergency services started to arrive. Everyone was just running everywhere.”
Some people suffered catastrophic injuries in the incident, British news agency Press Association reported, citing a doctor at St. Thomas’ Hospital, located directly across the River Thames from Parliament.
Witness reports suggested the assailant and the stabbed policeman were the people seen lying on the ground just outside the Parliament building by Reuters reporters. Journalist Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail newspaper told LBC Radio that he had witnessed the stabbing of the policeman and the shooting of the assailant from his office in the Parliament building.
“He (the assailant) ran in through the open gates ... He set about one of the policemen with what looked like a stick,” Letts said. “The policeman fell over on the ground and it was quite horrible to watch and then having done that, he disengaged and ran toward the House of Commons entrance used by MPs and got about 20 yards or so when two plainclothed guys with guns shot him.” Reporters inside Parliament saw a large number of armed police, some carrying shields, pouring into the building. US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he had been briefed on events in London but gave no details. In Edinburgh, the Scottish Parliament suspended a planned debate and vote on independence as news of events in London came in. Britain is on its second-highest alert level of “severe”, meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.