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Leytonstone knife attack: police find possible evidence of terror motive Leytonstone knife attack: police step up patrols after 'terrorist incident'
(about 5 hours later)
Material pointing to a terrorist motive has been found by detectives investigating the suspect in a knife attack at a London tube station in which two people were injured on Saturday night, police have said. Detectives and the security services are investigating whether an attacker who slashed a man with a knife and threatened other passengers at a London tube station was acting alone or as part of an Isis-inspired drive to kill on Britain’s streets.
A man armed with a knife allegedly shouted “This is for Syria” and “blood will be spilled” during the incident at Leytonstone station in east London. After Saturday’s attack at Leytonstone underground station, east London, one witness said the attacker used a knife in a sawing motion on his victim, who received lacerations to his throat.
Scotland Yard has revised down the casualty count, saying two people, not three, were hurt in the attack just after 7pm. A 56-year-old man was seriously injured and the other person did not need medical help. One woman was allegedly threatened but was uninjured. Police said claims from witnesses that the suspect shouted “this is for Syria” and “blood will be spilled”, plus information received during their investigation, had led them to class it as a terrorist incident.
A 29-year-old man was Tasered by officers and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police are not seeking anyone else in connection with the attack. The attack only ended after police repeatedly Tasered a suspect. If the terrorism motive is confirmed, it would be the first violent jihadi attack in Britain since May 2013, when soldier Lee Rigby was murdered outside a London barracks. Officials have warned for months that a terrorist attack in Britain was highly likely.
Videos of the scene show passengers, some with children, running away as a man lies in a pool of blood. Police said the 56-year-old victim’s injuries were not life-threatening. After the attacker reportedly said “this is for Syria”, one onlooker told him: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv,” a refrain that was quickly adopted on social media in condemnation of the action.
The UK terrorism threat level remains at “severe”, meaning an attack is highly likely. Government and security officials have not seen the need to hold an emergency meeting of Cobra, the government’s crisis committee. It has met after past terrorist incidents to coordinate the response. Police guarding the transport network said they would place more officers at train stations across London and consider whether extra visible patrols were needed elsewhere in the country.
If found to be terrorism, it would be be the first violent jihadi attack on Britain’s streets since May 2013, when a soldier was killed outside a London military barracks. Cdr Richard Walton, of Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, which is investigating the attack, said: “As a result of information received at the time from people who were at the scene and subsequent investigations, I am treating this as a terrorist incident.”
Cdr Richard Walton, from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, which is investigating the attack, said: “As a result of information received at the time from people who were at the scene and subsequent investigations, I am treating this as a terrorist incident.” On Sunday detectives searched an address in east London, where they are looking for evidence of radicalisation and any sign that the attack followed contact with others. The UK terrorism threat level remains at “severe”, meaning an attack is highly likely.
On Sunday, detectives were searching an address in east London, where they are likely to be looking for evidence of radicalisation. A 29-year-old suspect arrested on suspicion of attempted murder remains in police custody. Police are not currently seeking anyone else in connection with the attack.
Police said officers reached the scene of the attack five minutes after the alarm was raised, and tried to engage with the man but were threatened with violence. They fired a Taser several times at the suspect and he fell to the ground. He was arrested three minutes after police first reached the scene. One victim, aged 56, suffered a deep laceration to his throat, according to one report. Police described his injuries as serious but not life-threatening. A second injured person did not need medical help. One woman was allegedly threatened but was uninjured.
Videos of the scene shortly after 7pm on Saturday evening showed passengers, some with children, running away as a man lay in a pool of blood.
Government and security officials have not seen the need to hold an emergency meeting of Cobra, the government’s crisis committee. It has met after past terrorist incidents to coordinate the response.
David Videcette, a former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism investigator, said inquiries with MI5 may have produced the information that backed up the police’s initial view that terrorism was part of the motive for the attack. He said searches of any computers and phones may take time.
Videcette said the attack appeared to meet the definition of terrorism. “It is terrorism as he espoused a political motive and he caused someone harm and threatened violence,” he said.
Counter-terrorism police and the security service MI5 assess that about 2,000 people in the UK pose a threat of engaging in terrorism. The suspect arrested at Leytonstone station is not believed to have been of special concern.Counter-terrorism police and the security service MI5 assess that about 2,000 people in the UK pose a threat of engaging in terrorism. The suspect arrested at Leytonstone station is not believed to have been of special concern.
Salim Patel, the owner of a shop in the station, said the attacker punched a victim to the ground before using his knife. “The victim was shouting ‘somebody help, somebody help’ and the tall man was punching him so hard,” he told LBC radio. “When he fell on the floor, he started kicking him and then I called the police. When he started stabbing or cutting something on his body, everybody ran away … It was scary.” Amid local concern that the incident could inflame community tensions, Leytonstone Masjid Committee strongly condemned the attack. “There is no platform, event or dialogue in the masjid that can lead a person to commit such a crime,” it said.
In one video, the attacker is seen confronting several people in a station corridor. One person was filming him at a distance of a few metres on his mobile phone. Another approached the attacker and was struck high on his body, and an onlooker said: “He stabbed someone.” Salim Patel, 59, who works in the station kiosk, said he heard screaming and shouting as passengers descended the stairs from the platform. “This tall young guy was hitting and punching the victim so hard he fell on the floor. The person was shouting: ‘Help me, help me, somebody help me.’ He was in agony.”
A nearby police officer then drew what appears to be a Taser from his belt and took aim at the attacker. “Taser him, Taser him, Taser him,” said one bystander. The officer fired but it appeared to have little effect and the attacker advanced again. He told the Guardian that the assailant was a tall black man with an Arabic accent. He described him as “a very strong man who punched like a boxer”, and said his alleged victim was a white man carrying a musical instrument, possibly a guitar.
Other members of the public, including an elderly man, can be seen watching yards behind the attacker’s back. Officers fired a Taser at the suspect again, which sent him crashing to the floor. While the suspect was on the ground after being detained by police, he shouted words that led one person to reply: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv,” according to a video posted on social media. He said he thought the victim had been rendered unconscious by the punches. “He was kicking him so many times with [his] right leg and after a while he took his knife out and used it on his body,” said Patel. “I don’t know what part of the body he was using it on. I just saw his hand going forward and backward, forward and backward.”
Michael Garcia, 24, a financial analyst from Leytonstone, told the BBC he was walking along an underground passage that runs through the station when he saw people running outside. Michael Garcia, 24, a financial analyst from Leytonstone, told the BBC he saw “a guy, an adult, lying on the floor with a guy standing next to him brandishing a knife of about three inches … maybe a hobby knife. It had a thin blade, but looked fairly long. He was screaming ‘Go on, then, run’ to everyone else. He was pacing back and forth next to the guy on the floor.”
“I realised it wasn’t a fight but something more sinister,” he said. He then saw “a guy, an adult, lying on the floor with a guy standing next to him brandishing a knife of about three inches … maybe a hobby knife. It had a thin blade, but looked fairly long. He was screaming ‘Go on then, run’ to everyone else. He was pacing back and forth next to the guy on the floor. He came up to the barriers.” Patel said the attacker then left the concourse for a few minutes allowing members of the public to come to the victims assistance, but then returned, sending people running again.
Videos show some people in the tube station hurrying away when they realise a knife attacker is on the loose, while others take out phones and make video recordings and take photos. A witness video appears to show the attacker confronting several bystanders in a station corridor. The attacker lunges at one of them and an onlooker can be heard saying: “He stabbed someone.”
A nearby police officer then drew a Taser gun and fired but it appeared to have little effect and the attacker advanced again. Officers fired again, which sent the suspect crashing to the floor, and he was detained by police.
Police said they reached the scene of the attack five minutes after the alarm was raised, and tried to engage with the man but were threatened with violence. The suspect was arrested three minutes after police first reached the scene.
Walton praised the bravery of his officers and urged members of the public who filmed the incident to come forward and share their footage.
Another witness, named Khayam, told BBC Radio 5 Live of the aftermath of the attack. “Within about five, 10 minutes they brought out the person and took him to a police van,” he said. “When he came out I didn’t hear him saying anything, but I saw pedestrians shouting at him. One pedestrian tried to throw a bottle. A police officer just said ‘back off’. Then they took him to the police van. I saw a victim come out on a vertical stretcher with ambulance staff being rolled towards the ambulance. Several minutes later police closed off the station and evacuated everyone from the area. There was a big pool of blood. It didn’t look pretty.”Another witness, named Khayam, told BBC Radio 5 Live of the aftermath of the attack. “Within about five, 10 minutes they brought out the person and took him to a police van,” he said. “When he came out I didn’t hear him saying anything, but I saw pedestrians shouting at him. One pedestrian tried to throw a bottle. A police officer just said ‘back off’. Then they took him to the police van. I saw a victim come out on a vertical stretcher with ambulance staff being rolled towards the ambulance. Several minutes later police closed off the station and evacuated everyone from the area. There was a big pool of blood. It didn’t look pretty.”
Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary and MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, described the attack as an abomination. He told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “This is my borough. It grieves me to think that this kind of incident took place there. I know the police work incredibly hard, we have an anti-gangs programme there … It is an abomination to think of somebody doing this whatever the circumstances are. This is one of the good reasons why under the spending review we haven’t cut the police budget and the police will get the money necessary to secure the areas most threatened from terrorist attacks.Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary and MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, described the attack as an abomination. He told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “This is my borough. It grieves me to think that this kind of incident took place there. I know the police work incredibly hard, we have an anti-gangs programme there … It is an abomination to think of somebody doing this whatever the circumstances are. This is one of the good reasons why under the spending review we haven’t cut the police budget and the police will get the money necessary to secure the areas most threatened from terrorist attacks.
“We cannot let these sorts of people, terrorists etc, dominate our space. The way we defeat them at the end of the day is that our values, our freedom of expression … the freedom capitalism brings to us – none of that must be curtailed. That is the reason they attack us. We have a moderate state that believes in help and assistance to people and doesn’t believe in this totalitarian idea.”“We cannot let these sorts of people, terrorists etc, dominate our space. The way we defeat them at the end of the day is that our values, our freedom of expression … the freedom capitalism brings to us – none of that must be curtailed. That is the reason they attack us. We have a moderate state that believes in help and assistance to people and doesn’t believe in this totalitarian idea.”
Walton, the Met commander, appealed for witnesses. He said: “I would appeal to anyone who was in the vicinity of Leytonstone underground station at around 7pm who saw anything suspicious to call the anti-terror hotline on 0800 789 321. Anyone who may have captured video or photographic footage of the incident is also urged to make contact with the counter-terrorism command via the anti-terror hotline.”