The man accused of killing an American woman and wounding five other people in a London knife attack has been charged with murder, London’s Metropolitan Police said Friday.
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She had chosen to stay in London for an extra day to enjoy time in the capital because psychology professor Dr Richard Wagner had taught at a United Kingdom summer school for several weeks.
A British man who suffered a stab wound to his stomach in the attack remains in hospital in a “serious but stable” condition.
The five other people injured in the stabbing included both British, American, Israeli, and Australian citizens.
He said: “London is safe”.
So maybe this is a case of mental illness and not a terrorist attack. The man was treated in hospital shortly after the attack and is now in custody.
The attacker, a 19-year-old Norwegian man of Somali origin, was arrested by police on suspicion of terror links, but those possibilities were rejected after police interviewed him and his family.
POLICE FORCES clear police tape off at Russell Square in London, today.
On August 4, 2016, London police patrol the crime scene at Russell Square. Terrorism is being examined as a potential motive for a knife rampage at Russell Square, central London, that left one woman dead and five others injured.
“We believe this was a spontaneous attack and that the victims were selected at random”.
“In some of our big iconic locations, we’ve already got armed patrols – if you look at Parliament, Downing Street – so it’s not entirely new”, Metropolitan Police Chief Bernard Hogan-Howe said.
But within hours of Bulhan’s arrest police said they had found no evidence of radicalization or links to terrorism.
The incident came after authorities earlier on Wednesday announced London would increase its presence of armed police after recent terror attacks in Europe.
Manuel Simo, 32, who works at a hotel in the area, told the London Evening Standard: “At first, people were confused and thought it was a traffic accident”.
As a precautionary measure Mr Rowley said extra police would be deployed in London on Thursday to provide reassurance.
Armed officers responded to Wednesday’s stabbings, but didn’t fire any shots.
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan said “there is no evidence at all that this man was motivated by Daesh” – another name for the Islamic State group – or similar organizations.
