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.
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.
Scotland Yard has revised down the casualty count, saying two people, not three, were hurt in the attack just after 7pm.
VIDEO: Bystander shouts 'you aren't a Muslim' at man that attacked commuter in London tube station this evening.
pic.twitter.com/u0q00ZQKa7
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) December 5, 2015A 56-year-old man was seriously injured and the other person did not need medical help. One woman was allegedly threatened but was uninjured.
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.
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.
Threat level
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 co-ordinate the response.
If found to be terrorism, it would be be the first jihadi attack on Britain’s streets since May 2013, when a soldier was killed outside a London military barracks.
Commander 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."
Yesterday detectives were searching an address in east London, where they are likely to be looking for any evidence of radicalisation.
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.”
One video recorded the attacker 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.”
A nearby police officer then drew a Taser from his belt and took aim at the attacker. The officer fired but it appeared to have little effect and the attacker advanced again.
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.
– (Guardian service)