A man suspected of stabbing two people to death in a terror attack on London Bridge was previously convicted of terrorism offenses and released from prison last year, police said yesterday.
The knifeman, wearing a suspected hoax explosive device, was shot dead by police after Friday’s daylight assault that also saw bystanders intervene to try to disarm him.
Three more people were wounded in the stabbing spree, which came less than two weeks before Britain votes in a general election and revived memories of a three-man attack two years ago on the bridge that killed eight.
Photo: AFP
Police named the suspect as 28-year-old Usman Khan, saying that they were not actively seeking others in relation to the incident.
“This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offenses. He was released from prison in December 2018 on license,” London Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said in a statement.
In 2012, Khan, from Stoke in central England, was jailed along with eight others members of a terrorist group inspired by al-Qaeda that had plotted to bomb targets including the London Stock Exchange.
He was sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison and was also found guilty of making longer-term plans including taking part in “terrorist training” in Pakistan.
Basu said Khan had attended an event on Friday afternoon at Fishmonger’s Hall, a historic building on the north side of the bridge in the center of the capital.
“We believe that the attack began inside before he left the building and proceeded onto London Bridge, where he was detained and subsequently confronted and shot by armed officers,” Basu said.
Footage filmed by eyewitnesses and shared on social media showed a group of people tackling the suspect to the ground before the police arrived.
One man, wearing a suit and tie, was seen carrying a large knife away from the group.
Tour guide Stevie Hurst, who ran from his vehicle to the scene, told BBC radio that “everyone was just on top of him trying to bundle him to the ground.”
“I saw that the knife was still in his hand, so I just put a foot in to try and kick him in the head: we were trying to do as much as we could to try and dislodge the knife,” he said.
London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said that she was “deeply saddened and angered that our city has again been targeted by terrorism.”
The attack took place just hours before three minors were stabbed in a main shopping street in The Hague, Netherlands, with the victims later released from hospital.
It was not immediately clear if the two incidents were linked.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the emergency services and the public for their response.
Before chairing a meeting of the government’s emergencies committee, Johnson said he had “long argued” that it was a “mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early.”
Johnson’s Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party have both pledged to put at least 20,000 more police officers on the streets.
Basu said that Khan had been living in the Staffordshire region of central England and officers were searching an address in that area.
During the attack, he had been wearing an electronic tag used to monitor criminal offenders, the Times reported.
He also had equipment strapped to his body that police said they believed to be a “hoax explosive device.”
Later on Friday the bridge remained closed, with evacuated buses at a standstill and forensics officers at the scene.
On Nov. 4, Britain downgraded its terrorism threat level from “severe,” the second-highest of five levels, to “substantial” — the lowest rating in more than five years.
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