Foreign Affairs

Several People Stabbed, Two Dead In London Bridge Terrorist Attack

London_Skyline | Circa November 2005 | By en:User talk:Mewiki (own work) (Picture uploaded on the English-speaking Wikipedia) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Several people were stabbed Friday near the London Bridge in England, and the suspect plus two victims died, U.K. officials said.

Police shot the suspect dead, according to Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu. Two people have died as a result of the stabbings, U.K. officials said, according to The Wall Street Journal. Three others are in London hospitals, according to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick.

“I am deeply saddened and angered that our city of London has again been targeted by terrorism,” Dick said.

Authorities are treating the incident as a terrorist attack and the man had a fake suicide vest, Basu said. The suspect was reportedly a convicted terrorist who was released from jail upon agreeing he wear a tracking device, The Times of London reported, citing government sources.

He was allegedly convicted on an “Islamist terrorism-related offense” and was attending a conference on prison rehabilitation Friday.

“As you would expect due to the nature of the incident, we responded as though this was terrorist related. I’m now in a position to confirm that it has been declared a terrorist incident,” Basu said during a press conference, adding that authorities do not know a motive.

“However, I can confirm at this time, we believe a device that was strapped to the body of the suspect is a hoax explosive device. Officers continue to carry out meticulous searches in the area to ensure there is no outstanding threat to the public,” Basu said.

WATCH:

Police statement: AC Neil Basu gives statement on #LondonBridge incident. 29.11.19 https://t.co/890GWzIVhJ

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 29, 2019

Officers responded to the area after reports of “a stabbing.” Witnesses nearby said they heard gunshots, and Sky News reported that police shot the alleged stabber, according to The Associated Press.

Earlier Friday, the Metropolitan Police force tweeted it was “dealing with an incident at London Bridge.” A BBC reporter also said he heard gunshots, backing up early witness reports.

We are in the early stages of dealing with an incident at London Bridge. Please follow @metpoliceuk for updates. If you are near the scene, please follow the directions of any officer on the ground.

— MPS Events (@MetPoliceEvents) November 29, 2019

Video footage showed police aiming their weapons at a person on the ground, NBC News confirmed.

“We have now declared a major incident and have a number of crews at the scene in London Bridge,” London Ambulance Service tweeted.

This post is breaking and will be updated.