“It is with great sadness that we announce that one of those injured in this incident, a 13-year-old boy, has died from his injuries,” Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector Stuart Bell told reporters.
A boy, two police officers and two other people were stabbed in an east London street, using a samurai-style sword, just before 7am local time.
Police said they used a Taser stun gun and arrested the 36-year-old man, who was taken into custody. The incident is not believed to be terrorism-related, officials said.
All five victims were taken to hospital. Inspector Bell added that two police officers were awaiting surgery but their injuries and the two other members of the public who were injured were not believed to be life-threatening.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the incident “shocking”. “This kind of violence has no place on our streets,” he added in a post on the X social network.
Videos and photos posted on social media showed a man in a yellow hoodie with a gun on the streets near homes, with ambulances, police and fire trucks behind cordons, as well as near the city’s underground metro station. One witness said he saw two policemen chasing the man and yelling at him to put down his gun.
Police in England, Scotland and Wales are generally unarmed but have Tasers to subdue suspects.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “absolutely shocked” by the incident and would be in close contact with the city’s police commissioner. He thanked the police and emergency services “for not fearing danger to protect others”.
Last week, Prime Minister R. Sunak criticized the mayor for the poor knife crime rates in the British capital. Official statistics show that in 2023 London saw a 20 per cent rise in knife crime. Across England and Wales, knife crime increased by seven per cent to 49,489, with the majority (29 per cent) in metropolitan areas.
Tags: man armed sword attacked people London #13yearold boy died
