Twelve arrested in London night of terror
Tales of heroism as civilians take on terrorists; seven killed in Islamic State-claimed attack
LONDON — British police arrested a dozen people Sunday in a widening terrorism investigation after attackers using a van and large knives turned a balmy evening of nightlife into a bloodbath and killed seven people in the heart of London. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
Although the attackers were also dead, authorities raced to determine whether they had accomplices, and Prime Minister Theresa May warned that the country faced a new threat from copycat attacks.
The assault unfolded over a few terrifying minutes late Saturday, starting when a rented van veered off the road and barrelled into pedestrians on busy London Bridge. Three men then got out of the vehicle with large knives and attacked people at bars and restaurants until they were shot dead by police.
“They went, ‘This is for Allah,’ and they had a woman on the floor. They were stabbing her,” witness Gerard Vowls said.
Florin Morariu, a Romanian chef, said he saw people running and some fainting. Then two people approached another person and “began to stick the knife in ... and then I froze and I didn’t know what to do.” He said he managed to get near one attacker and “hit him around the head” with a bread basket. “There was a car with a loudspeaker saying, ‘Go, go,’ and they (police) threw a grenade ... and then I ran,” he said.
London police said officers killed the attackers within eight minutes of arriving at the scene.
Islamic State’s statement Sunday claimed the group’s “fighters” were responsible. ISIL has urged supporters to weaponize vehicles in attacks against the West.
It was the third attack in Britain this year that ISIL has claimed — after a similar attack on Westminister Bridge in March and the Manchester concert bombing two weeks ago — and one of several involving vehicles in Europe, including last year’s Bastille Day rampage in the French city of Nice.
Forty-eight people, including two police officers, were treated at hospitals Saturday. Twenty-one remained in critical condition Sunday. Among the wounded were German, French and Spanish citizens, officials said. A Canadian and a French national were confirmed dead.
Counterterrorism officers raided several addresses in Barking, an east London suburb, and arrested 12 people there Sunday, police said.
Neighbours at the site of one raid in Barking said a man who lived there resembled one of the attackers shown in news photographs.
“He’s lived here for about three years,” Damien Pettit said. “He’s one of our neighbours. I’ve said hello in passing more than 50, 60 occasions. He has two young kids. He was a very nice guy.”
Armed officers also conducted a raid in the East Ham area of the city.
On May 22, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured dozens at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, in northwest England. Grande and other stars performed Sunday night at a benefit concert for victims under tight security in Manchester.
“I don’t feel or smell or hear or see any fear in this building. All we feel here tonight is love, resilience, positivity,” said Pharrel Williams, who performed alongside Miley Cyrus.
May said the attacks were not directly connected, “but we believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face” as “terrorism breeds terrorism” and attackers copy one another.
She said five credible plots have been disrupted since March. “It is time to say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
London Bridge and a large area on the south bank of the River Thames remained cordoned off Sunday, and police told people to avoid the area.
Hours earlier, the area packed with bars and restaurants around the foodie magnet of Borough Market had been a scene of panic, as people barricaded themselves in pubs and restaurants or fled through the streets.
Renan Marquese, a sous-chef at a tapas restaurant, said he was working when he heard chaotic sounds outside.
“When I open the door I see three dead people on the floor,” he said. “People running everywhere, police shouting to run away.”
Amid the violence and fear were stories of compassion and heroism. The British Transport Police said one of their officers, among the first to arrive, took the attackers on armed only with his baton and was seriously wounded.
Witnesses described how passersby threw chairs and beer glasses at the attackers.
Richard Angell, who was in a restaurant, said he looked out and saw “a guy who is throwing a table at somebody. And it turns out to be a heroic guy who saw what was happening and just bombarded these terrible cowardly people with stuff.”