A teenage boy died Tuesday after a man with a sword stabbed the boy, two police officers and two other people during a street attack in east London, police said.
The man used what appeared to be a Samurai-type sword in the Hainaut district shortly before 7am (0600 GMT).
Police said they arrested a 36-year-old man who used Taser stun guns and took him into custody. The incident is not believed to be terror-related, they said.
Chief Inspector Stuart Bell of London's Metropolitan Police said all five victims were taken to hospital.
The two police officers were awaiting surgery for “significant” injuries, he added. But they, and those supported by the two members of the public, were not considered life-threatening.
“It is with great sadness that one of the injured in this incident, a 13-year-old boy, died from his injuries,” he told reporters at the scene.
“He was taken to hospital after being stabbed and sadly died a short time afterwards.”
Bell called the incident 'truly horrific' and said specialist officers were supporting the boy's family.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the stabbing 'shocking'. “Such violence has no place on our streets,” he added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“I would like to thank the emergency services for their continued response and pay tribute to the extraordinary courage shown by police on the scene.”
Video footage and photos posted on social media appeared to show a man in a yellow sweater on the street near houses with the weapon.
Emergency vehicles, including police, fire brigades and ambulances, were seen behind cordons, including near the city's metro station.
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One resident, who asked not to be named, said she hid behind a window as the suspect stood outside her home shouting: “Do you believe in God?” at police.
“We were very scared and tried to hide and not show ourselves through the window because he was right next to our house and he could have seen us if he looked up,” she added.
“We were very scared and didn't know what to do.”
Another witness said he saw two police officers chasing the man and yelling at him to put the gun down.
Police in England, Scotland and Wales are not routinely armed, but do have Taser weapons to neutralize suspects.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “absolutely devastated” by the incident and was in close contact with the city's police commissioner.
“The police stations and emergency services showed the best of our city: running towards danger to protect others and I thank them from the bottom of my heart,” he said.
Last week, Sunak criticized the mayor's record on knife crime in the British capital.
According to official statistics, knife crime in London rose by 20 per cent in 2023, with 14,577 offenses – one per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels in the year to March 2020.
In England and Wales as a whole, there was a seven per cent increase in knife crime to 49,489 offences, most of which (29 per cent) in urban areas, the Official for National Statistics said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)