Two ‘significant’ arrests in huge
Met’s urgent plea for information on killer Masood
POLICE investigating the Westminster terror attack have made two further “significant” arrests in a massive ongoing police operation across the UK.
Scotland Yard said today the suspects were held overnight in the West Midlands and the North-West, while raids and searches have also taken place in east London and Brighton.
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the head of UK counter terrorism, said hundreds of detectives are engaged in the operation as he issued an urgent appeal for information about Britishborn terrorist Khalid Masood, 52.
He also revealed that a fourth victim of the killer, 75-year-old Leslie Rhodes from Streatham. died in hospital last night. Two people remain in a critical condition, one with life-threatening injuries, after Masood mowed down tourists and pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and stormed the Palace of Westminster with two knives, killing Pc Keith Palmer, 48, a father of two.
Mr Rowley’s appeal came as the final photograph of Pc Palmer emerged. It was taken by US tourist Staci Martin as she posed with him outside the Houses of Parliament just 45 minutes before he was murdered. In further developments it emerged that:
A total of 50 people were injured when Masood drove a 4x4 at speed along the pavement of Westminster Bridge on Wednesday afternoon.
Twelve different nationalities were among the injured, 31 of whom needed hospital treatment.
Masood was seen dressed in a suit at a flat in the Olympic Village in Stratford in recent weeks.
He stayed at a £59 budget hotel in Brighton the night before the attack, telling staff, “I’m off to London today”, and adding that the capital “isn’t like it used to be”.
Police have made a total of 10 arrests, with nine people still in custody, in the operation code-named Classific. One woman has been released on bail.
Masood used different aliases including Adrian Elms but police said he was born Adrian Russell Ajao.
Mayor Sadiq Khan met members of the city emergency services to express his gratitude on behalf of Londoners for their response to the attacks.
Mr Rowley said two police officers hurt in the attack are being treated in hospital for “significant injuries”.
He described the police operation as “very fast-moving” — saying that while there was still no evidence of further threats, detectives were urgently trying to establish if Masood acted alone or had a network of associates.
“We remain keen to hear from anyone who knew Khalid Masood well, understands who his associates were and can provide information about places he recently visited,” he said.
Staff at the budget Preston Park Hotel in Brighton told The Sun that Masood had stayed there last Friday and then again on Tuesday night — with one source saying: “He was very English but mixed race with a big beard.”
Police are trying to trace Masood’s movements in the days before Wednesday after he told hotel staff he had also stayed in London and at Gatwick. The Standard can reveal that a woman saw him in recent weeks at a flat in the Olympic Park at Stratford.
The first-floor address was raided by counter terror police yesterday and is thought to be home to a former partner of his and her children. Neighbour Vera Amade, 21, a mother of three, said: “He was really nice and pleasant, always in a suit. He came back from work at 5 or 6pm. My brother saw him a few times in the past few weeks.
“When I saw Masood on TV I couldn’t believe it but it was definitely him.
“We were all in total shock. There was nothing to suggest anything unusual about him.”
Police removed a number of items from the flat, which housed athletes during the 2012 Olympics.
Mr Rowley said searches were ongoing at five addresses around the UK, while 16 had been concluded. Detectives have seized 2,700 items from the searches, including “massive amounts