Driver rams 3 cyclists in London attack, police say
Forensics officers examine a Ford that plowed into a barrier Tuesday in
LONDON — Police flooded central London streets and cordoned off the city's government district Tuesday, after a speeding car plowed into cyclists and crashed outside Parliament in what authorities were treating as an act of terrorism.
With the driver in custody, counterterrorism detectives were working to uncover the motive behind what they suspect is the fourth vehicle attack in Britain — and the second on Parliament — in 18 months.
“Given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident,” Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Britain's top counterterrorism officer, told reporters.
A rooftop camera recorded the silver Ford Fiesta driving past Parliament and veering sharply to the left, striking cyclists waiting at a set of lights, then crossing the road and crashing into a barrier outside Parliament. Armed police surrounded the car within seconds, pulling a man from the vehicle.
Police said the driver was alone and no weapons were found in the car. Three people were hurt, none critically, authorities said.
Police arrested the 29year-old driver, a resident of England's Midlands region who was not previously known to counterterrorism police or the intelligence services. Basu said the suspect was not cooperating with police.
Security Minister Ben Wallace said the man, whose name was not released, was a British citizen originally from another country.
Police said the car was driven from Birmingham in central England to London late Monday and was in central London for more than seven hours before the crash. Detectives were searching two properties in Birmingham and one in another Midlands city, Nottingham.
Police said they did not believe there was any ongoing threat from Tuesday's incident. After a meeting of the government's crisis committee, COBRA, officials said Britain's terrorism threat level would remain at “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely. It has briefly been raised to the highest level, “critical,” after some previous attacks.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who was on vacation in Switzerland, praised “the formidable courage of our emergency services and urged the public “to remain vigilant — but also to come together and carry on as normal.”
“The twisted aim of the extremists is to use violence and terror to divide us,” May said in a statement. “They will never succeed.”
Police cars and ambulances flooded London's government district just after 7:30 a.m., after witnesses reported seeing a silver car traveling at high speed hit pedestrians and cyclists, then crash into a barrier designed to protect Parliament from vehicle attack.
One injured person was treated at the scene and two were taken to local hospitals, where they were treated and released.