Video footage shows moment armed police shoot dead London Bridge attackers
● Three more arrests as raids continue ● Suspicious package sees area sealed off
Dramatic video footage has been released capturing the moment when armed police swooped into a busy market area near London Bridge on Saturday night and shot dead three attackers who had just killed eight people and wounded scores of others.
Yesterday’s surveillance camera footage shows the first police car rolling forward as the attackers lunge at a man to stab him during the late-night attacks.
Within minutes, the attackers are shot dead and another police car arrives as people are seen running for their lives.
During the confrontation, passers-by can be seen throwing objects at the attackers before the last victim is shown stumbling away.
Shortly afterwards, the lifeless bodies of the attackers are seen on the pavement.
Some 48 rounds were fired to stop the attack within eight minutes of the first emergency calls.
The footage emerged after police investigating the attack made three fresh arrests during raids in east London.
In total, 17 people had been arrested as of last night, with five in custody.
Police have named Youssef Zaghba, 22, a Moroccanitalian man who lived in east London, Khuram Butt, 27, from Barking, and Rachid Redouane, 30, also from Barking, as the men who carried out the attack.
As investigators continued the hunt for potential accomplices linked to the three attackers yesterday, police briefly closed off an area of London near the busy Charing Cross train station after a suspicious package was found.
The Metropolitan Police said the package was not terrorism-related.
Security patrols have been boosted throughout London after Saturday’s attack, which was the third such deadly incident in the UK in just three months.
One of those arrested is a man who allegedly worked out at the same gym as Khurum Butt, thought to be the attack ringleader.
Butt, once seen in a TV documentary called The Jihadis Next Door, had been repeatedly reported to police for his violent behaviour and reports from a neighbour who said he was trying to lure children to radical Islam.
His name had also been flagged in 2015 by FBI informant Jesse Morton. Born in Pakistan, Butt’s family in Britain released a statement on Wednesday apologising for his actions. Relatives in Pakistan said he had brought shame on to the family.
The Italian mother of Zaghba, whose father was Moroccan, said on Wednesday that her son had become radicalised in Britain after falling in with the wrong group of friends. Italian authorities alerted their British counterparts after he bought a oneway ticket to Turkey. He had said he wanted to go to Syria to start a family, according to his mother.
Redouane, a Moroccan pastry chef who had married a British woman and lived in Ireland for some time, was the only one of the three attackers who had not come onto British security’s radar.
London’s Borough Market remained sealed off yesterday with only a scattering of businesses nearby opening. The market was unlikely to reopen before Sunday, police said.
One of the businesses to reopen was a branch of fast-food chain Leon. On the night of the attack, staff pretended to lock the doors in a move that was thought to protect 20 customers inside. One customer outside the shop was stabbed several times in the neck. “Some of the people who were here on Saturday night are still a bit fragile,” said Leon chief executive John Vincent.
Britain’s counter-terrorism chiefs said they are launching a major drive to train festival workers in the wake of the three deadly attacksas the summer music season gets into full swing.