Suspect tasered and held after terror alert on Tube
A man has been arrested on terrorism charges after a suspicious item was discovered at an underground station in south London. North Greenwich station was evacuated on Thursday after a suspect device found on an eastbound Jubilee Line train sparked a terror alert at around 11am.
Police said a Taster stun gun was discharged but no shots were fired as the 19-year-old suspect was arrested in the street on north London’s Holloway Road on Friday. The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command were assisted by armed colleagues in the dramatic operation, which took place around midday. The suspect was detained at a London police station.
North Greenwich station was evacuated after the suspicious item was found, but reopened on Thursday evening. Police said the item is currently being forensically examined following a controlled explosion.
“The public will see more officers, including armed police, in and around transport hubs to provide reassurance around public safety,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement, adding that the Underground was working as normal.
Counter-terror detectives opened an investigation on Thursday after the suspicious item was found on a train at the Tube station, which serves the O2 entertainment complex, formerly the Millennium Dome. The police said in a statement that “a controlled detonation” of the package had taken place.
Emi Koizumi, 42, was walking to buy her lunch when armed police swarmed Holloway Road to arrest the suspect. “We saw loads of police, including armed [police] and also plain-clothed [officers] with their faces covered,” she told the Evening Standard. “The plain-clothed police ran off down the street towards Highbury Corner right as we walked up. No one would tell us what was going on under the railway bridge.”
Since August 2014, the terror threat level in Britain has been classed as “severe” – the second highest level, meaning an attack is considered “highly likely”.
Police have asked anyone who saw anything suspicious on the eastbound train to call the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789321.