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Five People Killed, At Least 40 Injured After Terrorist In SUV "Mows Down" Pedestrians In London

Live feed from SkyNews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y60wDzZt8yg 

 

The moment that shots rang out...

A summary of the latest development from today's London terrorist attack, which has taken place on the one year anniversary of the March 2016 Brussels Massacre:

  • An SUV drove over Westminster Bridge knocking down pedestrians this afternoon killing at least five people in the process - including one policeman and the suspect - while injuring 40 others
  • Victims were said to have been left scattered in the road, with some reportedly floating in the River Thames
  • A knifeman, described as 'middle-aged and Asian'  then got into the grounds of Parliament where he reportedly stabbed a police officer
  • He as then shot by armed officers as the area was cleared by emergency services
  • According to a Scotland yard conference, there are numerous casualties, including police officers;
  • The London police requests the public to avoid the area around parliament and nearby bridges.
  • Parliament was suspended and the Prime Minister was rushed from the scene in an unmarked police car
  • As SkyNews summarizes the chaotis sequence of events, the attacker drove into people on Westminster bridge, drove to Parliament Square, stabbed police officer and was shot by police

According to the UK's Mirror, the following is a photo of the moment the Parliament terror attack suspect is wheeled into an ambulance after being shot by police. The man, who was said to be "Asian, and middle-aged" in appearance, entered the grounds of the Houses of Parliament and stabbed a policeman just after 2.30pm this afternoon.

This is what is believed to be the series of events this afternoon where a knife attacker drove into pedestrians before he was shot 

As the Daily Mail reports, a terror attacker brought carnage to central London today by mowing down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and attacking police with a knife in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament. At least 20 people are said to have been hit by a car on the bridge after a vehicle
described as a '4x4' drove into pedestrians and cyclists, with four people reportedly killed, including a police officer and the suspect.

[image]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/22/15/3E86A92900000578-4338998-Armed_Police_have_opened_fire_and_shot_a_person_outside_the_Hous-a-63_1490196071189.jpg[/image]

The alleged vehicle that mowed down people

An
intruder, described by a witness as 'middle-aged and Asian', then managed to break into the grounds of the Parliament and stabbed a police officer before he was shot. An hour after the attack, paramedics removed one person from the scene after extensive CPR. Another body appeared to have been left on the ground covered by a red blanket.

[image]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/22/16/3E87410F00000578-4338998-image-a-94_1490198694745.jpg[/image]

A police officer was stabbed by the knifeman before he was shot by other officers.

Prime Minister Theresa May is said to have been bundled into a car by a plain-clothes police officer and driven quickly from the scene.

Scotland Yard said the attack, which comes a year to the day after the terrorist
atrocities in Brussels, is being treated 'as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise'.

[image]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/22/15/3E86D26500000578-4338998-It_is_believed_a_police_officer_was_stabbed_by_the_knifeman_befo-a-65_1490196071372.jpg[/image]

Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs a 'police officer has been stabbed' and the 'alleged assailant was shot by armed police' following a 'serious' incident within the parliamentary estate. 

Witness Jayne Wilkinson said: 'We were taking photos of Big Ben and we saw all the people running towards us, and then there was an Asian guy in about his 40s carrying a knife about seven or eight inches long. 'And then there were three shots fired, and then we crossed the road and looked over. The man was on the floor with blood.'

[image]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/22/15/3E8703AC00000578-4338998-image-a-67_1490196692238.jpg[/image]

He had a lightweight jacket on, dark trousers and a shirt. He was running through those gates, towards Parliament, and the police were chasing him.'

[image]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/22/15/3E86A64300000578-4338998-Emergency_teams_were_seen_carrying_out_CPR_inside_the_palace_gro-a-64_1490196071251.jpg[/image]

Emergency teams were seen carrying out CPR inside the palace grounds in New Palace Yard

Her partner David Turner added: 'There was a stampede of people running out. You saw the people and you thought 'what the hell is going on'.'

Steve Voake, 55, was walking across the Westminster Bridge and saw at least two bodies lying on the road and one in the water.

'I saw a trainer lying in the road and when I looked more closely I saw that there were a couple of bodies the other side of the road,' he told the Press Association. 'And when I looked over the side there was another body lying in the water with blood all around it.'

[image]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/22/15/3E871E6E00000578-4338998-image-m-81_1490197982894.jpg[/image]

An injured victim walks from the scene on Westminster Bridge where at least 10 people were reported knocked down 

Mail journalist Quentin Letts saw the incident out of the window of a Commons office. He told the BBC: 'We heard this sound that sounded like a car crash… 'Then we saw a thick set man in black clothes come through the gates where people would normally drive cars 'This man had something in his hand. It looked like a stick. He was challenged by two policemen. The policeman fell down. 'We could see the man in black movinghis arm in a way that suggested he was either striking or stabbing.'

Kevin Schofield, the editor of PoliticsHome.com heard 'a very loud bang' from the press gallery inside the Houses of Parliament followed by lots of shouting and men running around. He initially thought it was a car crash but then he looked outside the window to a heavily-guarded area outside which is out of bounds to the public.

He told Sky News: 'Someone rushed through, attacked a policeman, a policeman went down, another policeman came and he was rescued. 'The man who had assaulted him got up and he appeared to be carrying either a knife or a gun. Then we heard gunfire, lots of gunfire, maybe five or six rounds. 'All I remember seeing is the man approaching the police officer probably with a knife and then there was gunfire.'

Eyewitness Rick Longley described the attack saying: 'We were just walking up to the station and there was a loud bang and a guy, someone, crashed a car and took some pedestrians out. 'They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben. 'A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman. I have never seen anything like that. I just can't believe what I just saw.' 

After the incident, Radoslaw Sikorski posted a video to Twitter purporting to show people lying injured in the road on Westminster Bridge. Mr Sikorski, a senior fellow at Harvard's Centre for European Studies, wrote: 'A car on Westminster Bridge has just mowed down at least 5 people.' 

People outside the palace could be seen running from the scene when the shots were heard. An eye witness said that a car was seen to mow down five people on Westminster Bridge. Police are then believed to have shot a man who tried to enter the Parliamentary Estate.   The dramatic incident comes weeks after it was revealed that UK security services have foiled 13 potential attacks in less than four years, while counter-terrorism units are running more than 500 investigations at any time.

The official threat level for international terrorism has stood at severe, meaning an attack is 'highly likely', for more than two years. Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman Baroness Randerson said countries seem to have been 'singled out based on religious beliefs'.

'Of course safety is paramount at all times and we all need to remain vigilant but this ban needs to be explained in detail,' she said.

 

* * * Earlier:

 

A woman lies injured after a shooting incident on Westminster Bridge in London

Update 2:

  • ALLEGED ASSAILANT WAS SHOT AT UK PARLIAMENT BY ARMED POLICE - LEADER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
  • POLICEMAN STABBED, MAN SHOT; REPORTS OF OTHER INCIDENTS. PARLIAMENT SITTING SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: MNI

Update 1:

Two people have reportedly been shot outside the U.K. parliament building in London, in a developing incident that may have taken place on the adjacent Westminster Bridge.

A parliamentary clerk told Reuters two people had been shot, but there was no official confirmation from the police. A Reuters photographer said he saw at least a dozen people injured on Westminster Bridge near the parliament building.

Reports said that a man was seen waving a knife and police said they treating the situation as a firearm incident.

* * *

Eariler

Shots have been reportedly fired outside UK parliament in London, where two people have been reportedly shot outside the gates to parliament, Reuters and Bloomberg report with iTV adding that explosions heard outside British Parliament, the building on lockdown.

The Sun reports that a car mowed down a dozen pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.

According to SkyNews, waves of people' have been seen running from Parliament amid reports of gunfire, while Reuters adds that around six people are injured on Westminster Bridgeg.

 

As BBC adds, politicians and journalists have tweeted about hearing loud crashes outside the buildings, as witnesses said they saw people being treated for injuries.  

Witnesses have reported seeing a man with a knife within the palace grounds.

A police officer has also told a BBC's political editor that someone has been shot outside Portcullis House.

  • SHOTS FIRED OUTSIDE U.K. PARLIAMENT IN LONDON: BBG
  • PEOPLE ON GROUND ARE WITHIN PRECINCTS OF PARLIAMENT IN LONDON
  • HOUSE OF COMMONS SITTING HAS BEEN SUSPENDED
  • REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHER SEES AROUND SIX PEOPLE INJURED ON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE OUTSIDE BRITISH PARLIAMENT
  • AT LEAST ONE PERSON BEING TREATED, HELD AT GUNPOINT BY POLICE
  • ARMED POLICE SEEN RUNNING TO EXIT FROM UK PARLIAMENT - REUTERS WITNESS
  • REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHER SAYS SEES AT LEAST A DOZEN INJURED PEOPLE ON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE NEAR PARLIAMENT
  • TRANSPORT FOR LONDON SAYS UNDERGROUND STATION AT WESTMINSTER HAS BEEN SHUT AT POLICE REQUEST

Developing

Source
London
United Kingdom
London police