London attack: four dead, including attacker, in car rampage and knife attack – CBS News
Five dead, including attacker, in car rampage, knife attack in London
Last Updated Mar 22, two thousand seventeen Two:30 PM EDT
LONDON — A knife-wielding man went on a deadly rampage at the heart of Britain`s seat of power Wednesday, mowing down pedestrians on London`s Westminster Bridge before stabbing an armed police officer to death inwards the gates of Parliament.
Five people were killed, including the attacker, and at least forty people were injured, police said.
Lawmakers, lords, staff and visitors were locked down as the man was shot by police within the perimeter of Parliament and just yards from entrances to the building itself. He died, as did two pedestrians on the bridge, and the police officer.
British PM Theresa May condemns Parliament attack
Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley said police believed there was only one attacker, «but it would be foolish to be overconfident early on.»
The threat level for international terrorism in the U.K. was already listed at severe, meaning an attack is «very likely.»
Speaking outside ten Downing St. on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Theresa May said that level would not switch. She said attempts to defeat British values of democracy and freedom through terrorism would fail.
«Tomorrow morning, Parliament will meet as normal,» she said.
She said Londoners and visitors «will all budge forward together, never providing in to terror and never permitting the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart.»
Counterterrorism accomplished: Parliament attack looks like terrorism at this time
In a statement, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the attack is being considered a «terrorist attack.»
«Londoners should be aware that there will be extra armed and unarmed police officers on our streets from tonight in order to keep Londoners and all those visiting our city safe,» Khan said in a statement. «I want to reassure all Londoners and all our visitors not to be alarmed – our city remains one of the safest in the world.»
The attack began on Westminster Bridge in the shadow of Big Ben, an iconic landmark and major tourist attraction in London, CBS News foreign correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti reports. Police say the suspect used his vehicle to plow onto the sidewalk of the bridge, injuring people who were there. The suspect then took the vehicle and smashed into the gate of Parliament, where police say he got out and stabbed a police officer before two other officers shot him.
Hundreds of people were inwards Parliament and were compelled into lockdown. Among them was Prime Minister Theresa May, who was seen in a movie a brief time later being securely escorted out.
The suspect`s identity and motive remain unclear, Vigliotti reports.
London Police Commander B.J. Harrington said a total counter-terrorism investigation was underway. There was no instantaneous claim of responsibility.
The attack comes on the one year anniversary of a dual suicide bombing in the Belgian capital, Brussels, that left more than thirty people dead. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was behind that attack.
In Fresh York, police have tightened security at British diplomatic posts and at other locations.
An attacker is treated by emergency services, as knives lie on the ground, with police looking on at the scene outside the Houses of Parliament London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Stefan Rousseau, PA via AP
London`s Metropolitan Police said they were called at approximately Two:40 p.m. local time to reports of the incident on Westminster Bridge, which is located just outside the Palaces of Westminster, home of the Parliament.
Photos posted on social media demonstrated a dark SUV had come to rest with its front end smashed into a fence around the perimeter of the Houses of Parliament compound.
Terror attack outside U.K. Parliament. Two studs down on road. Man with knife/machete got into Parliament and stabbed policeman. He’s been shot pic.twitter.com/aYNktTiF4d
Rick Longley told the Press Association that he heard a bang and spotted a car plow into pedestrians and come to a crashing stop. Pictures from the scene displayed pedestrians sprawled on the ground, with blood streaming from a woman surrounded by a scattering of postcards.
«They were just laying there and then the entire crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben,» he said. «A stud came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just commenced plunging it into the policeman. I have never seen anything like that. I just can`t believe what I just witnessed.»
It all unfolded within view of the London Eye, a large Ferris wheel with pods that have views over the capital. It stopped rotating and footage displayed the pods utter as viewers observed police and medical crews on the bridge, which has at its north end Big Ben and Parliament, two iconic symbols.
«The entire length of the bridge there were people on the ground,» Richard Tice, a witness, told Sky News. The London Ambulance Service said it had treated at least ten people on the bridge.
Colleen Anderson of St. Thomas` Hospital said some people had minor injuries and that others were «catastrophic.» British port officials said they pulled a woman from the Sea Thames. She was injured but alive after the attack.
Romain Nadal, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said three students from Saint-Joseph high school in Concarneau who were on a school tour were among the injured. Romania`s foreign ministry says two Romanians were wounded.
None of the victims were American citizens, CBS News has learned.
After leaving a trail of destruction on the bridge, the attacker managed to get through tall metal gates and into Parliament`s Fresh Palace Yard, a cobbled courtyard in the shadow of the Big Ben clock tower. Just yards to the right is the entrance to 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the parliamentary elaborate, busy with visitors and school groups. Beyond that, a corridor leads to the building`s Central Lobby, flanked by House of Commons and House of Lords chambers.
One British lawmaker was hailed by some as a hero. Conservative parliamentarian Tobias Ellwood, whose brother was killed in the Bali terror attack in 2002, performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the police officer who was stabbed and later died. About ten yards away from the police officer was the attacker who was shot dead by police after scaling the security wall toward the Parliament`s grounds.
Ellwood, who served in the British military and served in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Kuwait and Cyprus, applied pressure to the police officer`s numerous lacerations. Photographs showcased Ellwood`s bloodied mitts and face from the police officer`s wounds while the alleged attacker was seen nearby. Ellwood has been an undersecretary at the Foreign Office since 2014, covering the Middle East and Africa.
A policeman points a gun at a man on the floor as emergency services attend the scene outside the Palace of Westminster, London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
President Donald Trump spoke with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to suggest his condolences on what the White House called a «terror attack,» according to a White House statement. The statement also said Mr. Trump suggested his «praise for the effective response of security coerces and very first responders.»
«He pledged the utter cooperation and support of the United States Government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice,» the statement said.
The U.S. Homeland Security Department said the security stance in the U.S. has not switched in the wake of the attack.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson voiced his condolences to the victims and their families on behalf of the United States.
«The American people send their thoughts and prayers to the people of the United Kingdom,» he said in a statement. «We condemn these horrific acts of violence, and whether they were carried out by troubled individuals or by terrorists, the victims know no difference.»
The U.S. State Department said it was closely monitoring the incident outside London`s Parliament and urged Americans in London to avoid the area.
Spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday: «We stand ready to assist in any way the U.K. authorities would find helpful.»
He added that the U.S. Embassy in London is closely following the news and stands ready to help any affected Americans.
He said: «Our hearts go out to those affected.»
Other world leaders spoke out after the attack. Among them were French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who both voiced their support and solidarity with Britain.
Hollande said that countries «must bring all the conditions to response these attacks» and that «it is clear that it is at the European level, and even beyond that, that we must organize ourselves.» Merkel said in a statement Wednesday that she learned «with sorrow» of Wednesday`s incident and her thoughts were «with our British friends and all of the people of London,» in particular those who were injured.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy condemned the attack and suggested condolences to the British people in a telegram sent to Theresa May. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova voiced sympathy to those injured and condolences to the relatives of those who died in the incident at Britain`s parliament, and underlined the need for global cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Israel also voiced solidarity with the victims.
«Israel voices its deep shock at the terror attack in London today and its solidarity with the victims and with the people and government of Fine Britain. Terror is terror wherever it occurs and we will fight it continually,» Israel`s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said in a statement.
Armed police officers guard at a police cordon outside the Houses of Parliament in central London, March 22, two thousand seventeen during an emergency incident. Getty
British security thwarted some thirteen terror plots over the past four years, but the U.K. has largely been spared major international terror attacks such as the ones seen in Belgium and France.
Last year, a far-right supporter shot and killed British lawmaker Jo Cox, who had campaigned for the U.K. to remain in the European Union. Prior to that, an attacker stabbed three people at a train station in east London in response to the Royal Air Force`s bombing of the Islamic State group in Syria.
The most gruesome latest attack occurred in two thousand thirteen when two Muslim converts of Nigerian descent attacked Lee Rigby, a British Army soldier who was walking down the street. The boys ran Rigby down with their vehicle and then used a cleaver to hack him to death as bystanders observed in horror.
The worst peace time attack on Britain this century was on July 7, 2005, when four al Qaeda-inspired bombers blew themselves up on three subway trains and a bus in London, killing 52. Three of the bombers were British-born, all of Pakistani descent; the other emigrated from Jamaica.
On Wednesday, the Italian interior ministry said the nation`s top security and intelligence officials will huddle in Rome on Thursday for «an evaluation of the terrorist threat» after the attacks in London. The ministry said minister Marco Minniti convened the Committee of Strategic Anti-terrorism Analyses following «the tragic facts in London.»
Italian security was already on high alert for a European Union summit bringing EU nation leaders to Rome Friday for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, and a ceremony in the Italian capital Saturday.
© two thousand seventeen CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
London attack: four dead, including attacker, in car rampage and knife attack – CBS News
Five dead, including attacker, in car rampage, knife attack in London
Last Updated Mar 22, two thousand seventeen Two:30 PM EDT
LONDON — A knife-wielding man went on a deadly rampage at the heart of Britain`s seat of power Wednesday, mowing down pedestrians on London`s Westminster Bridge before stabbing an armed police officer to death inwards the gates of Parliament.
Five people were killed, including the attacker, and at least forty people were injured, police said.
Lawmakers, lords, staff and visitors were locked down as the man was shot by police within the perimeter of Parliament and just yards from entrances to the building itself. He died, as did two pedestrians on the bridge, and the police officer.
British PM Theresa May condemns Parliament attack
Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley said police believed there was only one attacker, «but it would be foolish to be overconfident early on.»
The threat level for international terrorism in the U.K. was already listed at severe, meaning an attack is «very likely.»
Speaking outside ten Downing St. on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Theresa May said that level would not switch. She said attempts to defeat British values of democracy and freedom through terrorism would fail.
«Tomorrow morning, Parliament will meet as normal,» she said.
She said Londoners and visitors «will all budge forward together, never providing in to terror and never permitting the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart.»
Counterterrorism accomplished: Parliament attack looks like terrorism at this time
In a statement, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the attack is being considered a «terrorist attack.»
«Londoners should be aware that there will be extra armed and unarmed police officers on our streets from tonight in order to keep Londoners and all those visiting our city safe,» Khan said in a statement. «I want to reassure all Londoners and all our visitors not to be alarmed – our city remains one of the safest in the world.»
The attack began on Westminster Bridge in the shadow of Big Ben, an iconic landmark and major tourist attraction in London, CBS News foreign correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti reports. Police say the suspect used his vehicle to plow onto the sidewalk of the bridge, injuring people who were there. The suspect then took the vehicle and smashed into the gate of Parliament, where police say he got out and stabbed a police officer before two other officers shot him.
Hundreds of people were inwards Parliament and were coerced into lockdown. Among them was Prime Minister Theresa May, who was seen in a movie a brief time later being securely escorted out.
The suspect`s identity and motive remain unclear, Vigliotti reports.
London Police Commander B.J. Harrington said a total counter-terrorism investigation was underway. There was no instantaneous claim of responsibility.
The attack comes on the one year anniversary of a dual suicide bombing in the Belgian capital, Brussels, that left more than thirty people dead. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was behind that attack.
In Fresh York, police have tightened security at British diplomatic posts and at other locations.
An attacker is treated by emergency services, as knives lie on the ground, with police looking on at the scene outside the Houses of Parliament London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Stefan Rousseau, PA via AP
London`s Metropolitan Police said they were called at approximately Two:40 p.m. local time to reports of the incident on Westminster Bridge, which is located just outside the Palaces of Westminster, home of the Parliament.
Photos posted on social media demonstrated a dark SUV had come to rest with its front end smashed into a fence around the perimeter of the Houses of Parliament compound.
Terror attack outside U.K. Parliament. Two boys down on road. Man with knife/machete got into Parliament and stabbed policeman. He’s been shot pic.twitter.com/aYNktTiF4d
Rick Longley told the Press Association that he heard a bang and witnessed a car plow into pedestrians and come to a crashing stop. Pictures from the scene showcased pedestrians sprawled on the ground, with blood streaming from a woman surrounded by a scattering of postcards.
«They were just laying there and then the entire crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben,» he said. «A stud came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just embarked plunging it into the policeman. I have never seen anything like that. I just can`t believe what I just spotted.»
It all unfolded within glance of the London Eye, a large Ferris wheel with pods that have views over the capital. It stopped rotating and footage demonstrated the pods total as viewers observed police and medical crews on the bridge, which has at its north end Big Ben and Parliament, two iconic symbols.
«The entire length of the bridge there were people on the ground,» Richard Tice, a witness, told Sky News. The London Ambulance Service said it had treated at least ten people on the bridge.
Colleen Anderson of St. Thomas` Hospital said some people had minor injuries and that others were «catastrophic.» British port officials said they pulled a woman from the Sea Thames. She was injured but alive after the attack.
Romain Nadal, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said three students from Saint-Joseph high school in Concarneau who were on a school tour were among the injured. Romania`s foreign ministry says two Romanians were wounded.
None of the victims were American citizens, CBS News has learned.
After leaving a trail of destruction on the bridge, the attacker managed to get through tall metal gates and into Parliament`s Fresh Palace Yard, a cobbled courtyard in the shadow of the Big Ben clock tower. Just yards to the right is the entrance to 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the parliamentary elaborate, busy with visitors and school groups. Beyond that, a corridor leads to the building`s Central Lobby, flanked by House of Commons and House of Lords chambers.
One British lawmaker was hailed by some as a hero. Conservative parliamentarian Tobias Ellwood, whose brother was killed in the Bali terror attack in 2002, performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the police officer who was stabbed and later died. About ten yards away from the police officer was the attacker who was shot dead by police after scaling the security wall toward the Parliament`s grounds.
Ellwood, who served in the British military and served in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Kuwait and Cyprus, applied pressure to the police officer`s numerous lacerations. Photographs showcased Ellwood`s bloodied arms and face from the police officer`s wounds while the alleged attacker was seen nearby. Ellwood has been an undersecretary at the Foreign Office since 2014, covering the Middle East and Africa.
A policeman points a gun at a man on the floor as emergency services attend the scene outside the Palace of Westminster, London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
President Donald Trump spoke with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to suggest his condolences on what the White House called a «terror attack,» according to a White House statement. The statement also said Mr. Trump suggested his «praise for the effective response of security compels and very first responders.»
«He pledged the total cooperation and support of the United States Government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice,» the statement said.
The U.S. Homeland Security Department said the security pose in the U.S. has not switched in the wake of the attack.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson voiced his condolences to the victims and their families on behalf of the United States.
«The American people send their thoughts and prayers to the people of the United Kingdom,» he said in a statement. «We condemn these horrific acts of violence, and whether they were carried out by troubled individuals or by terrorists, the victims know no difference.»
The U.S. State Department said it was closely monitoring the incident outside London`s Parliament and urged Americans in London to avoid the area.
Spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday: «We stand ready to assist in any way the U.K. authorities would find helpful.»
He added that the U.S. Embassy in London is closely following the news and stands ready to help any affected Americans.
He said: «Our hearts go out to those affected.»
Other world leaders spoke out after the attack. Among them were French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who both voiced their support and solidarity with Britain.
Hollande said that countries «must bring all the conditions to response these attacks» and that «it is clear that it is at the European level, and even beyond that, that we must organize ourselves.» Merkel said in a statement Wednesday that she learned «with sorrow» of Wednesday`s incident and her thoughts were «with our British friends and all of the people of London,» in particular those who were injured.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy condemned the attack and suggested condolences to the British people in a telegram sent to Theresa May. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova voiced sympathy to those injured and condolences to the relatives of those who died in the incident at Britain`s parliament, and underlined the need for global cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Israel also voiced solidarity with the victims.
«Israel voices its deep shock at the terror attack in London today and its solidarity with the victims and with the people and government of Excellent Britain. Terror is terror wherever it occurs and we will fight it continuously,» Israel`s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said in a statement.
Armed police officers guard at a police cordon outside the Houses of Parliament in central London, March 22, two thousand seventeen during an emergency incident. Getty
British security thwarted some thirteen terror plots over the past four years, but the U.K. has largely been spared major international terror attacks such as the ones seen in Belgium and France.
Last year, a far-right supporter shot and killed British lawmaker Jo Cox, who had campaigned for the U.K. to remain in the European Union. Prior to that, an attacker stabbed three people at a train station in east London in response to the Royal Air Force`s bombing of the Islamic State group in Syria.
The most gruesome latest attack occurred in two thousand thirteen when two Muslim converts of Nigerian descent attacked Lee Rigby, a British Army soldier who was walking down the street. The fellows ran Rigby down with their vehicle and then used a cleaver to hack him to death as bystanders observed in horror.
The worst peace time attack on Britain this century was on July 7, 2005, when four al Qaeda-inspired bombers blew themselves up on three subway trains and a bus in London, killing 52. Three of the bombers were British-born, all of Pakistani descent; the other emigrated from Jamaica.
On Wednesday, the Italian interior ministry said the nation`s top security and intelligence officials will huddle in Rome on Thursday for «an evaluation of the terrorist threat» after the attacks in London. The ministry said minister Marco Minniti convened the Committee of Strategic Anti-terrorism Analyses following «the tragic facts in London.»
Italian security was already on high alert for a European Union summit bringing EU nation leaders to Rome Friday for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, and a ceremony in the Italian capital Saturday.
© two thousand seventeen CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
