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Attacker shot outside UK parliament

UPDATE: A fifth person has died after a driver mowed down pedestrians in a “depraved” terrorist attack.

Victoria Craw, James Law and Liz Burke
7 min read
March 23, 2017 - 4:15PM
London Attack: Ten Minutes of Terror

THE fatal terror attack that killed five people and injured 40 in London has shocked the western world, and one image sums up its impact better than any other.

Sketching the capital’s iconic Big Ben clock tower covered in a single teardrop, Italian artist Diego Cusano has created a symbol for the city’s grief and mourning that’s being shared widely on social media.

The sympathetic artist shared his illustration this morning with the simple caption: “London stay strong!”

Since then the image has been shared thousands of times and caught the attention of news outlets around the world.

Speaking with CBS news, Mr Cusano said he always expressed his emotions with drawings and images. He offered some insight into why his drawing and message may resonate with the rest of the world, saying: “We are all suffering the same way.”

Also on social media, people around the world have expressed their sympathy and solidarity with the people of London.

The hash tags #WeAreNotAfraid and #PrayForLondon have taken off, accompanying messages of sympathy and resilience.

The messages of solidarity follow confirmation from police that a fifth person has died and about 40 are injured following a terror attack in the heart of London.

A police officer and his attacker are among the dead, and injured casualties include three police officers. A number of schoolchildren are also reportedly being treated for injuries.

An Australian national is believed to have been injured during the attack and is recovering in hospital, according to the ABC.

The attack unfolded on Wednesday afternoon when a man drove a car across Westminster Bridge mowing down pedestrians before storming a security checkpoint outside the UK Houses of Parliament and stabbed a police officer.

The officer has been identified by Scotland Yard as PC Keith Palmer, a 48-year-old husband and father with 15 years of service to the police force.

In a heartfelt Facebook post, Nottinghamshire Police said Mr Palmer “died today protecting the public”.

“When many ran from danger, you went towards it,” they wrote. “Thank you for your service and your dedication.”

PC Keith Palmer who was fatally stabbed in London terror attack. Picture: Nottinghamshire Police/Facebook
PC Keith Palmer who was fatally stabbed in London terror attack. Picture: Nottinghamshire Police/Facebook

The attacker was shot by police outside the Palace of Westminster. Police have confirmed that both the officer and the alleged terrorist died.

Police believe they know the identity of the attacker, but those details are yet to be made public. The attacker was wrongly identified as a known extremist and hate preacher, but it has since been confirmed the man named by several British media outlets is in prison.

News Corp reports armed police have stormed an address in Bermingham in an early morning raid, believed to be in connection to the London attack.

BBC Newsnight reports the house may be linked to the car used to run down pedestrians.

The property on Hagley Road was cordoned off about 10am AEST and neighbours were warned to stay inside.

News Corp reports the West Midlands Police said in a statement it was an ongoing investigation but witnesses told local media people were removed from the home.

It is not yet known the exact link between the address and the London attacks.

The suspected terrorist on a stretcher outside Parliament. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
The suspected terrorist on a stretcher outside Parliament. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
A man is treated by emergency services as police look on at the scene outside the Houses of Parliament London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
A man is treated by emergency services as police look on at the scene outside the Houses of Parliament London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
This knife was seen on the ground near the attacker. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
This knife was seen on the ground near the attacker. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP

Before the attacker reached Parliament, at least 20 people were injured when he mowed down pedestrians in a car on a nearby bridge.

Horrifying footage shows the car speeding across the bridge and mounting the footpath, ploughing down pedestrians in its path. A woman is seen to plummet from the bridge into the River Thames below.

French government officials have confirmed three French schoolchildren were among the injured on Westminster Bridge.

Police said they were treating the attack “as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise”.

The building, in the heart of London, was immediately locked down and Parliament was suspended.

Westminster Bridge was littered with bodies after the attacker drove into pedestrians, before crashing into the gates outside Parliament.

A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images
A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images

Colleen Anderson of St Thomas’ Hospital told the British news agency Press Association that a female pedestrian had died.

“There were people across the bridge. There were some with minor injuries, some catastrophic,” she said.

“Some had injuries they could walk away from or have life-changing injuries.”

Eight patients were being treated at King’s College emergency department — six males and two females.

King’s College said two of the injured were in a critical condition, and the remaining six were stabled.

There are reports that two of the injured were schoolchildren.

Armed police walk past emergency services attending to injured people on the floor outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
Armed police walk past emergency services attending to injured people on the floor outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has offered Australia’s sympathy and solidarity with the United Kingdom, saying we are “staunch allies in the war against terrorism”.

“The attack on British Parliament is an attack on parliaments, freedom and democracy everywhere,” he said.

“Almost every tradition here in Australia is modelled on that of the Houses of Parliament in London. The birth place of our great, free parliamentary democracy and the rule of law which sustains it.

“We send our condolences, especially to the families of the victims, those injured, including a police officer murdered by the terrorist as he attempted to enter the Houses of Parliament.”

Mr Turnbull said the attack was reminder of the risk that our security agencies, police forces and members of the Australian Defence Force take on “as they defend us every day”.

The Prime Minister was defiant, saying we must be “clear-eyed about the risk”.

“The terror threat is set at probable, but we will never ever let the terrorists win,” he said.

“We will defeat and destroy them on the battlefield, we will defeat and defy them at home. We will never change the way we live. We will never let them divide us.”

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street after chairing emergency government meetings, British Prime Minister Theresa May labelled the incident a “sick and depraved terrorist attack on the streets of our capital”.

Ms May paid tribute to the “exceptional men and women” of the police force who responded to the attack.

She vowed that “the forces of evil” would never be allowed “to drive us apart”.

“We will all move together, never giving into terror, and never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart,” she said.

The Queen was scheduled to open London’s new police headquarters at New Scotland Yard today, but the visit has now been postponed.

Eyewitness Amne Mouad told news.com.au that he was standing in Parliament Square talking on the phone when he heard two loud bangs.

He walked across the road and saw an empty car that was full of smoke. He saw two young white men lying on the ground not moving.

“The first man, I think, is dead. He was full of blood in the head,” he told news.com.au.

“What I see is no accident, to me. I saw people shouting and running.”

Treasury Department worker Barbara heard the drama unfold from her office next to the Palace of Westminster.

“At the beginning we didn’t know it was gunshots, then it got quite shocking for us,” she told news.com.au.

Staff received a message that there had been an incident, but were given no detail.

“You don’t know what happened, then you read about a terrorist attack. It is scary,” she said.

A member of the public is taken away for treatment by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images
A member of the public is taken away for treatment by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images

She said she saw as many as 10 snipers on a nearby roof as she was evacuated from her building.

Like many Londoners, she has been waiting for another terrorist incident to strike the city.

“I’m actually quite surprised that’s it’s been so long, but there you have it,” she said.

Injured people are assisted after pedestrians were mowed down on Westminster Bridge in London. Picture: Reuters/Toby Melville
Injured people are assisted after pedestrians were mowed down on Westminster Bridge in London. Picture: Reuters/Toby Melville

Seun Robert-Edomi, who works near the Parliament at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said he heard voices shouting outside his office before staff received an email to evacuate the building.

“Police shut it down pretty quickly,” Mr Robert-Edomi told news.com.au of the incident.

“I’ve never been scared. This is what I’m used to.

“It can happen in Paris it can happen in Berlin … you’ve got to not let fear consume you, otherwise you’re going to let them win.”

Armed officers on the scene outside Parliament. Picture: Jack Taylor/Getty Images
Armed officers on the scene outside Parliament. Picture: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

A witness at Parliament told The Sun: “We heard a loud bang, lots of shouting and men running around.

“Someone rushed through, attacked a policeman.

“He appeared to be carrying a knife or a gun. We then heard gunfire, five or six rounds.

“The man approached one of the police officers with a knife.”

Another witness told journalist Assad Baig that he saw people flying up in the air “like a football”.

Workers are streaming out of offices in their thousands as police expand the cordon around Westminster.

A woman lies injured after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville
A woman lies injured after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Prime Minister Theresa May was at Parliament when the incident began, but her office says she is safe. She was bundled into a car and rushed from the scene, The Sun reports.

The leader of the House of Commons, David Lidington, said an assailant at Parliament was shot and that there were “reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity.” Journalists were told to stay in their offices.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, speaking from Washington DC where she is attending a terrorism conference, said there were no known Australian casualties.

She said the incident had all the “hallmarks” of an ISIS-inspired attack.

Asked if the London attack meant there was an elevated danger level to Australia, Ms Bishop said there was “no doubt” foreign fighters may carry out attacks as they fled Syria and Iraq after pressure from countries like Australia.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull issued a message of solidarity with Britain and sympathy with victims of the attack.

“Australia stands in resolute solidarity with the people of Britain in war against terrorism,” he said in a tweet. “Our heartfelt sympathies are with the victims.”

An injured man is assisted after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London, Britain March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville
An injured man is assisted after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London, Britain March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Emergency personnel tend to an injured person near the Palace of Westminster in London. Picture: Yui Mok/PA via AP
Emergency personnel tend to an injured person near the Palace of Westminster in London. Picture: Yui Mok/PA via AP

George Eaton, a journalist with the New Statesman, said that from the window of Parliament’s Press Gallery, he saw police shoot a man who charged at officers.

“A large crowd was seen fleeing the man before he entered the parliamentary estate,” he wrote on the publication’s website. “After several officers evaded him he was swiftly shot by armed police.”

Political editor of London’s Daily Telegraph, Christopher Hope, said he heard a loud explosion on Westminster Bridge and saw the public running away.

“Gun shots outside. Frightening,” he wrote online.

Police on the scene after sounds similar to gunfire were heard close to the Houses of Parliament in London. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA via AP
Police on the scene after sounds similar to gunfire were heard close to the Houses of Parliament in London. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA via AP
A woman assists an injured person after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville
A woman assists an injured person after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

The incident comes on the one-year anniversary of the Brussels airport terror attack, where two bombs claimed 32 lives.

The shooting also comes one day after Ms May announced the date that she would trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin the Brexit process, whereby Britain will leave from the European Union. The withdrawal will officially start on March 29.

Newspaper front pages are beginning to roll off the press, bearing headlines like “Attack on democracy” and “terror rampage at Westminster”.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/two-men-shot-outside-uk-parliament/news-story/59907755df25f48ef971fdffd361851e