Lone London attacker not on police radar
But knifeman who killed three before being shot was once probed for extremist links, May tells Parliament
THE LONE attacker who carried out a deadly rampage in central London was a British-born man once investigated for possible extremist links, but was “not part of the current intelligence picture”, British Prime Minister Theresa May said yesterday.
May didn’t name the suspect who left three people dead – two mowed down by his SUV on the Westminster Bridge and a police officer stabbed outside Parliament – before he was fatally shot.
But May offered new details about his past scrutiny by authorities, who described Wednesday’s attacks as “inspired by international terrorism” but had likely been waged by the suspect alone.
In a statement to the House of Commons, May said that the assailant was born in Britain and was once investigated by security services “in relation to concerns about violent extremism”.
“He was a peripheral figure,” she added.
“The case was historic. He was not part of the current intelligence picture. There was no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot. Intensive investigations continue.”
Meanwhile, police held at least eight people in sweeps in London and Birmingham linked to the investigation. Mark Rowley, the acting deputy police commissioner, said: “It is still our belief, which continues to be borne out by our investigation, that this attacker acted alone and was inspired by international terrorism.”
Speaking outside the Scotland Yard headquarters, Rowley said that four people had died, including two members of the public, a police officer, and the attacker.
Yesterday, the police said that five people had died, but have since revised that figure down.
He also said that 29 people were being treated in hospital, with seven in critical condition.
“At this stage, we have no specific information about further threats to the public,” he said.
A minute’s silence was observed in Parliament, Scotland Yard and London’s City Hall to remember the lives lost in the attack at 9.33am, in honour of slain police officer Keith Palmer’s shoulder number, 933, on his uniform.
Queen Elizabeth, who was due to open the new Scotland Yard building today but postponed it in light of the events, said that her “thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy are with all those who have been affected by yesterday’s awful violence”.
On Wednesday afternoon, an assailant ploughed an SUV through terrified pedestrians along the landmark bridge, killing at least two people and injuring others from a range of nationalities, including 12 Britons, three French schoolchildren, two Romanians, four South Koreans, two Greeks, one German, one Pole, one Irish, one Chinese, one Italian, and one American.
One woman who was walking along Westminster Bridge fell into the Thames, but was pulled out alive.
The attacker then rammed the vehicle into the fence encircling Parliament and charged with a knife at officers stationed at the iron gates leading to the Parliament grounds, killing one and injuring three, before he was shot and killed by police.
Tributes have been pouring in for Palmer, a 48-year-old husband and father who was unarmed at the time of the attack.
“He was a strong, professional public servant,” said the lawmaker James Cleverly in an emotional speech in Parliament.
MPs also acknowledged Tobias Ellwood, a Foreign Office Minister, who tried in vain to save Palmer’s life.
Michael Fallon, Britain’s Defence Secretary, said that the security arrangements at Parliament, which has a mix of armed and unarmed officers, would now be reviewed. But he stressed that “Parliament cannot be hermetically sealed”.
The incident was splashed on to the front pages of British newspapers yesterday with the Times of London carrying the headline “Assault on Westminster” and the Daily Mirror leading with “Attack on Democracy”.
Despite the massive police presence in the area, there were signs that life was returning to normal yesterday.
“We are not afraid,” May said during her defiant speech to Parliament.
The attack occurred on Parliament’s busiest day of the week, when the prime minister appears for her weekly questions session and the House of Commons is packed with visitors.
The Palace of Westminster, the ancient seat of the British Parliament, is surrounded by heavy security, with high walls, armed officers and metal detectors.
But just outside the compound are busy roads packed with cars and pedestrians.
The attack – a low-tech, high-profile assault on the most potent symbol of British democracy – fits the profile of earlier strikes in major European capitals that have raised threat levels across the continent in recent years.