London Bridge: suspect shot dead by police after terror attack

London came under terrorist attack again today. A suspect, wearing a hoax suicide vest, was shot dead by police on London Bridge following a struggle.

The Metropolitan Police were called to London Bridge today shortly before 2pm after reports of a stabbing. The London Ambulance Service labelled it a “major incident” and confirmed they were dealing with five  casualties. The Met said that they are treating the attack as “terror-related.”

Police issued a statement:

“Police were called at 13:58hrs on Friday, 29 November, to a stabbing at premises near to London Bridge, EC1. Emergency services attended, including officers from the Met and City of London Police. A number of people have been stabbed. We will provide further details of those injured when possible. A man has been shot by police at the location. At this early stage, the circumstances relating to the incident remain unclear. However, as a precaution, we are currently responding to this incident as though it is terrorist-related.”

The Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, has since confirmed that “it has been declared a terrorist incident” and that “officers from the Met Counter Terrorism Command are now leading this investigation”. However, he added that “it would be inappropriate to speculate further at this time” on the motive of the attacker.

The suspect appears to have been alone. He wielded a knife to attack those on the bridge. His identity has not yet been confirmed.

John McManus of the BBC witnessed the event and said that he saw a group fighting on the bridge, before police arrived and shots were fired. The whole area surrounding the bridge was cordoned off, and the area was swamped with armed police.

Video footage published by users on Twitter showed an altercation, with several passers-by and police officers grappling a man to the floor in an attempt to restrain him. The struggle took place towards the north side of the river, close to the Fishmongers’ Company building.

Armed police can be seen prising away a man in plain clothes who had wrestled the assailant to the floor. After successfully separating him from the assailant, the armed police then fired two gun shots at the attacker while he was on the floor.

Photos of the bridge in the immediate aftermath which were uploaded online show a white lorry which was strafed across the middle of the road, disrupting the traffic. Footage shows police inspecting the vehicle.

London Bridge mainline station has been closed, and tube stations are not stopping at London Bridge underground as the police attempt to secure the area and investigate the scene. Kings College London campus, which is located close to London Bridge on the South Bank, has been “temporarily locked down”.

The Prime Minister said: “I’m being kept updated on the incident at London Bridge and want to thank the police and all emergency services for their immediate response.” Boris Johnson has returned to London from the general election campaign trail, and requested a personal briefing from Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu on the events which took place.

It is likely that a Whitehall COBRA meeting will now be called to assess the security situation. If this happens, it will probably mean that election campaigning will also be suspended for a period of time.

The attacks have come just weeks after the threat of a terror attack to the UK was downgraded on November 4th from “severe” and “highly likely” to “substantial” and “likely”.