Man behind the bloodshed
Before his rampage, Khalid Masood was considered by intelligence officers to be a criminal who posed little serious threat.
BEFORE he killed at least four people in Britain’s deadliest attack since the 2005 London bombings, Khalid Masood was considered by intelligence officers to be a criminal who posed little serious threat.
A British-born Muslim convert, Masood had shown up on the periphery of previous terrorism investigations that brought him to the attention of Britain’s MI5 spy agency.
But he was not under investigation when he sped across Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, ploughing down ped- estrians with a hired car, before running into the parliamentary grounds and fatally stabbing an unarmed policeman. He was shot dead by police. Although some of those he was involved with included people suspected of being keen to travel to join jihadist groups overseas, Masood “himself never did so”, said a US government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
London police said in a statement: “Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.
“However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including (grievous bodily harm), possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.”
Islamic State claimed responsibility for Masood’s attack, although it was unclear what links – if any – he had with the militant group.
The 52-year-old was born in Kent and moved though sev- eral addresses in England, although he was known to have lived recently in Birmingham.
He racked up a string of convictions but none for terrorism-related offences.
He first came to the attention of authorities in 1983, when he was found guilty of causing criminal damage, and his last conviction came 14 years ago in December 2003 for possession of a knife.
Little detail has officially been given about the man and what might have led him to carry out Wednesday’s attack.
“Our working assumption is that he was inspired by international terrorism,” said Britain’s most senior counterterrorism police officer, Mark Rowley, adding: “Islamist-related terrorism is our assumption.”
Since the attack in London, police have raided a number of addresses across the city, arresting five men and two women on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
Masood spent his last night in a budget hotel in Brighton, the Sun newspaper said.