Palace attacker drove at police and reached for a 4ft sword in car
Suspect yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ at cops
Cop patrol at palace yesterday the public at this time. We believe the man was acting alone and we are not looking for other suspects at this stage.”
Yesterday, police searches were being carried out in the Luton area, where the suspect lives.
The area around Buckingham Palace went into lockdown as he was held under the Terrorism Act after being stopped at 8.35pm on Friday night.
The unnamed suspect, 26, was taken to hospital under armed guard and then to a Central London police station.
Two of the cops were yesterday discharged from hospital after suffering minor injuries to their hands and arms. The third officer was uninjured.
The horror on The Mall came almost exactly an hour after a man with a machete was shot dead in Brussels after attacking three soldiers while also shouting “Allahu Akbar” – Allah is great.
The attacker – a Belgian citizen of Somali origin – died of two gunshot wounds in hospital after being found to be carrying a firearm replica and two copies of the Koran.
Anti-terror cops were yesterday searching his home in Bruges, 60 miles north-west of Brussels.
The UK’S terror threat level is at severe, the second highest, meaning an attack is highly likely but not imminent.
It had been raised to critical – the highest level – after the Manchester Arena bombing in May, which left 22 dead. Speaking about incident at Buckingham Palace, Commander Haydon added: “This is a timely reminder that the threat from terrorism in the UK remains severe.
“The police, together with the security services, are doing everything we can to protect the public and we already have an enhanced policing plan over the bank holiday weekend to keep the public safe.
“I would urge anybody who witnessed the incident, or has any information or images that may assist the investigation, to contact the confidential hotline on 0800 789 321.”
patrick.hill@trinitymirror.com
It is a timely reminder that the terror threat remains severe DEAN HAYDON HEAD OF MET COUNTER TERRORISM