WITNESS: ‘HE MADE NO EFFORT TO STOP’
Baylor Cook was standing in the median on Westminster Bridge in the heart of London yesterday when a revving engine caught his ear. A moment later — as the college student, his parents and 15-year-old sister looked on in horror — a car veered onto the sidewalk, mowing down a group of pedestrians, and then sped off.
It became like a “war zone” unfolding in front of the 20-year-old Nashville, Tenn., native who attends Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Here is Cook’s story as told to the Herald’s Matt Stout:
“We had crossed the first two lanes (of the bridge) and were standing in the median, waiting for the walk signal. All of a sudden, this car comes out of nowhere on the sidewalk and just hit these five innocent people who were standing there taking pictures, just doing normal tourist things.
We thought it was just an accident (at first). But he made no effort to stop. He just accelerated down the
sidewalk and hopped back onto the street and made the turn toward Parliament.
As soon as the car hit the group of people, our first instinct was to run and help. … My parents supported a girl who had been hit, they were supporting her neck. I immediately tried to find someone to call 999, which is the emergency number over here. I have a little sister who is 15. The scene was pretty bad, so I was trying to shield her from seeing as much as I could.
It was an SUV with a low-lying front. So when it hit the people and they flew into the air, they flew into the fence and fell back onto the pavement. There was blood, people were knocked out. I could only imagine it’s what a war zone looks like.”
Cook said he heard a “commotion” before the car appeared but there were no screams or yelling. He estimated the car was going at least 30 miles per hour.
“That was the crazy part about it. None of the stuff that you think you’re going to hear. It just sounded like a car just revved its engine and appeared out of nowhere on the sidewalk. We were on the median. If he chose to turn the other direction, he would hit us.
I don’t feel lucky. I think everyone is all grieving for the losses and injuries. … It’s a horrible situation, and no good comes out of it. But I feel like God had a hand of protection over us and allowed us to go help the people who were injured.”