Terror Attack

London terrorist kills 3, injures at least 20 near British Parliament

British police are treating the attack as a "terrorist incident." 

USA TODAY

LONDON — A lone attacker killed three people, including a police officer, and injured at least 20 others in two apparent terrorism assaults near Britain's Parliament on Wednesday. Police shot and killed the assailant.

The attack began mid-afternoon in the heart of London when the attacker used his car to mow down several people on the Westminster Bridge, killing at least one female pedestrian and leaving some people with "catastrophic injuries," police said. The driver then rammed the car into the gates outside Parliament. The attacker fled from the car and tried to enter Parliament, stabbing and killing a police officer on the way.

London's Metropolitan Police said they would treat the attack "as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise."

"Although we remain open minded to the motive, a full counter terrorism investigation is already underway — this is led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command," Commander B.J. Harrington of New Scotland Yard said.

The attack came on a particularly busy day in London. Tourists crowded the historic sites and most members of Parliament had gathered in the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Questions, a 30-minute session of questions with Prime Minister Theresa May that takes place every Wednesday at noon.

Local media reported that May is safe after security officials whisked her from the scene as shots were heard.

"The location of this attack was no accident. The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our Capital City, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech," May said in statement Wednesday. "Any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure."

May said Parliament will meet Thursday "as normal."

London Mayor  Sadiq Khan echoed May's sentiments, saying  "there will be additional armed and unarmed police officers on our streets from tonight in order to keep Londoners and all those visiting our city safe."

" Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism,” Khan said in a statement.

France's prime minister said some people injured on the bridge were French high school students.

Colleen Anderson, a doctor at St Thomas’ Hospital, in an interview with the Associated Press, confirmed the death of a female pedestrian.


Police on the scene after sounds similar to gunfire have been heard close to Parliament in London on March 22, 2017. (Photo: Victoria Jones, AP)

"There were people across the bridge," Anderson told AP. "There were some with minor injuries, some catastrophic. Some had injuries they could walk away from or who have life-changing injuries,"

Port officials said they pulled a woman from the Thames River, injured but still alive.

The assault comes on the one-year anniversary of the Brussels suicide bomb attacks that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds. It is the first serious terrorist incident in Britain since 2013, when an off-duty soldier named Lee Rigby was killed by two al-Qaeda-inspired extremists.

Since 2013, British counter-terrorism forces have thwarted 13 potential terrorist attacks. The assault on the bridge was the latest in a string of incidents, including in Berlin and Nice, in which attackers have used vehicles as weapons.