UK Police identify London Bridge attacker as Usman Khan

LONDON: A man suspected of stabbing two people to death in a terror attack on London Bridge was a former prisoner convicted for terrorism offences and released last year, police said Saturday.

Police identified the man, who was shot dead by officers after Friday's attack, as 28-year-old Usman Khan, saying they were not actively seeking any other suspects in relation to the incident.

"This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences. He was released from prison in December 2018 on licence," Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said in a statement.

Three more people were wounded in the daylight stabbing spree which revived memories of a three-man attack on London Bridge two years ago that killed eight.

Basu said that the suspect had been living in the Staffordshire region of central England and officers were searching an address in that area.

"The circumstances, as we currently understand them, are that the attacker attended an event earlier on Friday afternoon at Fishmonger's Hall called 'Learning Together'," the statement said.

"We believe that the attack began inside before he left the building and proceeded onto London Bridge, where he was detained and subsequently confronted and shot by armed officers."

According to The Telegraph, Khan has been accused of "trying to establish a terror training camp at his family land in Azad Kashmir.  

Footage filmed by eyewitnesses and shared on social media showed a scrum of people tackling the suspect on the ground before the police arrived.

One man, wearing a suit and tie, was seen carrying a large knife away from the group.

Tour guide Stevie Hurst, who ran from his car to the scene, told BBC radio that "everyone was just on top of him trying to bundle him to the ground".

"I saw that the knife was still in his hand so I just put a foot in to try and kick him in the head: we were trying to do as much as we could to try and dislodge the knife," he said.

Emergency meeting 

Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick said she was "deeply saddened and angered that our city has again been targeted by terrorism".

The attack took place just hours before three minors were stabbed in a main shopping street in the centre of Dutch city The Hague, with the victims later released from hospital.

It was not immediately clear if the two incidents were linked.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hoping to win a majority in a December 12 election to enable him to take the country out of the European Union, praised the emergency services and the public for their response.

Before chairing a meeting of the government's emergencies committee, said he had "long argued" it was a "mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early".

Johnson's Conservatives and the main opposition Labour party have both pledged to put at least 20,000 more police officers on the streets.

But Brexit has raised questions about the extent of continued cooperation with Europe on security and intelligence matters.

Hoax device

During the attack, he had been wearing an electronic tag used to monitor criminal offenders, according to a report in British newspaper The Times.

He also had equipment strapped to his body that police said they believed to be a "hoax explosive device".

The event at Fishmonger's Hall was called "Learning Together", Basu said — part of a project run by academics at the University of Cambridge's criminology institute.

Vice-Chancellor Stephen Toope said he was "devastated" that the university´s staff, students and alumni may have been targeted in the attack.

Later on Friday the bridge remained closed, with evacuated buses at a standstill and forensics officers at the scene.

A White House spokesman said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the attack and was monitoring the situation.

Trump, who has previously criticised London's mayor and stabbings in the British capital, is due to visit next week for a NATO summit.

On November 4, Britain downgraded its terrorism threat level from "severe", the second-highest of five levels, to "substantial" — the lowest rating in more than five years.

The 2017 London Bridge attack involved extremists in a van who ploughed into pedestrians on the bridge before attacking people at random with knives in nearby Borough Market.

Eight people were killed and 48 wounded. The three attackers, who were wearing fake suicide devices, were shot dead by police.