One of two people stabbed in the neighborhood of Streatham in South London Sunday by an Islamic terrorist wearing a fake explosives vest is fighting for his life at a hospital in the city. The Islamist, who was later identified as Sudesh Amman, was shot dead by police officers of the Metropolitan Police Service or the Met Police.
Police said Amman, 20, was released a week ago after serving half of his three year sentence for terror offenses. Aman was also under active police surveillance at the time of his attack at Streatham.
The incident that wounded a man and saw another person, a woman, stabbed took place at about 2:00 p.m. London Time Sunday (1400 GMT and 10:00 p.m. in Beijing Sunday). Glass splinters from a window shattered by police gunfire cut a third person, also a woman.
"A man has been shot by armed officers in #Streatham," tweeted the Met Police as the incident unfolded. "At this stage it is believed a number of people have been stabbed. The circumstances are being assessed; the incident has been declared as terrorist-related."
The Met Police later said one person is at hospital in a life-threatening condition, and that they were in the process of informing their family. Just before 4:00 p.m. the Met Police tweeted the situation had been "fully contained," meaning the unidentified suspect had been killed. A fake explosive device was found strapped to the body of the suspect, said the Met Police.
London Mayor Saqid Khan confirmed a man was shot dead by armed police in Streatham following an incident being treated as terrorism-related. A number of people are believed to have been stabbed, said Khan as the tragedy occurred.
Khan said he was in close contact with the Met Commissioner and local representatives, and wants to thank our police, security and medical services for their swift and courageous response. He noted that terrorists "seek to divide us and destroy our way of life -- here in London we will never let them succeed."
Officers from the Counter Terrorism Command, a specialist operations branch of the Met Police, are leading an investigation into the incident. The attack is believed to be "Islamist-related," according to Lucy D'Orsi, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Met Police.
D'Orsi said armed officers were in immediate attendance and shot a male suspect, as part of a proactive Counter Terrorism operation. One eyewitness said the slain terrorist wielded a knife or a machete "the size of his forearm." Another said he saw the terrorist stab the woman who was pushing a baby carriage and in the company of two young boys.
Another eyewitness narrated he was crossing the road "when I saw a man with a machete and silver canisters on his chest being chased by what I assume was an undercover police officer."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted his thanks to the emergency services and his best to those stabbed. He thanked all emergency services responding to the incident in Streatham, which the police have now declared as terrorism-related. He said his thoughts are with the injured and all those affected.
Johnson on Monday said his government would announce further plans for fundamental changes to the system for dealing with those convicted of terrorism offences. He said his government moved quickly to introduce measures strengthening its response to terrorism. These measures include longer prison sentences and more money for police, and were introduced after the attack at Fishmongers' Hall near London Bridge on Nov. 29, 2019.
This attack by Usman Khan, who also wore a fake suicide vest, saw him stab to death two people attending an offender rehabilitation conference in Fishmongers' Hall along with him. Khan was released from prison in 2018 after being jailed for terrorist offenses.
