LONDON, A 14-year-old boy was killed and four other people were injured after a man with a sword went on a stabbing spree in east London on Tuesday.
Police said they did not believe the incident was terrorism-related and there was no ongoing threat to the wider community.
Police tasered and arrested the man after the incident near Hainault in east London. Video footage showed a man wielding what appeared to be a sword.
“It is with great sadness that I confirm one of those injured, a 14-year-old boy, has died. He was taken to hospital after being stabbed and sadly died shortly afterwards,” London’s Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell said.
He said it was not believed to be a targeted attack.
London’s Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe told reporters a 36-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder and was currently in hospital, having suffered injuries when his van collided with a building.
Dramatic doorbell camera footage shows the moment police officers tasered and detained a sword-wielding man in Hainault, north east London, following a stabbing attack. pic.twitter.com/VKXJgcNSFd
— Talk (@TalkTV) April 30, 2024
Two members of the public and two police officers were in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The two police officers had stab wounds requiring surgery.
Britain’s King Charles paid tribute to those affected and praised the courage of the emergencies services that helped to contain the incident.
“His (King Charles) thoughts and prayers are with all those affected – in particular, the family of the young victim who has lost his life,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said.
(REUTERS)
In a career spanning three decades and counting, Ramananda (Ram to his friends) has been the foreign editor of The Telegraph, Outlook Magazine and the New Indian Express. He helped set up rediff.com’s editorial operations in San Jose and New York, helmed sify.com, and was the founder editor of India.com.
His work has featured in national and international publications like the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Global Times and Ashahi Shimbun. But his one constant over all these years, he says, has been the attempt to understand rising India’s place in the world.
He can rustle up a mean salad, his oil-less pepper chicken is to die for, and all it takes is some beer and rhythm and blues to rock his soul.
Talk to him about foreign and strategic affairs, media, South Asia, China, and of course India.
