GENERAL NEWS
At least 5 dead, including suspect, in terror attack near Britain’s Parliament
Police on the scene after sounds similar to gunfire have been heard close to the Houses of Parliament, London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. The UK House of Commons sitting has been suspended as witnesses report sounds like gunfire outside. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
A police officer, a suspect and at least three others were killed in a terror attack near British Parliament on Wednesday, a police official said during a press conference.
“We’ve lost one of our own as he acted to protect the public and his colleagues,” Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said of the officer who was stabbed multiple times.
At least 40 more people were injured.
A session of Britain’s House of Commons in London was suspended. Parliament was on lockdown.
The attacker was killed by police. He was believed to have acted alone, but police were searching the area.
“Our strength as a city is our ability to stand together,” Rowley said. “We will do all we can to protect the people of London.”
The attacker has not been identified. It is believed he was inspired by international terrorism.
George Eaton, a journalist with the New Statesman, said that from the window of Parliament’s Press Gallery, he saw police shoot a man who ran toward them.
“A large crowd was seen fleeing the man before he entered the parliamentary estate,” he wrote on the publication’s website. “After several officers evaded him he was swiftly shot by armed police.”
Terror alert: Parliament in lockdown after shots fired and car drives into pedestrians https://t.co/4nNMFaGGjD pic.twitter.com/Yf3x1GXrvI
— New Statesman (@NewStatesman) March 22, 2017
Rick Longley told the Press Association that he heard a bang and saw a car mow down pedestrians and come to a crashing stop.
“They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben,” he said. “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.”
The London Ambulance Service said it treated at least 10 injured people.
The threat level for international terrorism in the UK was listed at severe. Prime Minister Theresa May was led away to safety.
The Commons’ speaker suspended the session as police responded to trouble on a nearby bridge. Witnesses said a vehicle hit several people, and photos showed a car plowed into railings.
"One of the police officers told me someone had been shot" – @BBCLauraK reports from Westminster under lock downhttps://t.co/WG8yXWpPVV pic.twitter.com/LlWbBSCagh
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 22, 2017
Deputy speaker announces UK Houses of Parliament suspended after incident on Westminster Bridge https://t.co/WG8yXWpPVV pic.twitter.com/0SpfNcjAIv
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 22, 2017
The Press Association news agency reported that two people were seen lying within the grounds of Parliament.
"I must have counted between eight and 10 prostrate figures": A witness to the firearms incident near #Parliament in #Westminster pic.twitter.com/ALQde5cmpH
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 22, 2017
British port officials said they pulled an injured woman from the Thames River after the incident on Westminster Bridge.
The White House said President Donald Trump has been briefed on the attack.
“We condemn today’s attack in Westminster,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in his daily briefing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
