London police shoot man after 'terrorist-related' stabbings leave two injured

LONDON: British police said Sunday they had shot dead a man in Streatham, in south London, after at least two people were stabbed in a suspected "terrorist-related" incident.

Police said the man had died as a witness spoke of seeing a man in Streatham "with a machete and silver canisters on his chest".

"The circumstances are being assessed; the incident has been declared as terrorist-related," London's Metropolitan Police said on Twitter, adding that it believed "there are two injured victims" and that "the scene has been fully contained".

It added further to use common sense and exercise restraint in circulating pictures and videos of the incident.

London's Ambulance Service, on the other hand, said it had "a number of resources" attending the incident on Streatham High Road in the largely residential neighbourhood.

In a statement, London Ambulance Service Strategic Commander Graham Norton said: "We were called at 1:58pm today (2 February) to reports of an incident in Streatham High Road."

He said the ambulance service was "treating a number of patients at the scene".

'Machete and silver canisters'

Eyewitness Gulled Bulhan, a 19-year-old student, told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency that he saw the dramatic events unfold.

"I saw a man with a machete and silver canisters on his chest being chased by what I assume was an undercover police officer — as they were in civilian clothing," he said.

"The man was then shot. I think I heard three gun shots but I can't quite remember."

Bulhan added he then sheltered in a library as other passers-by ran into nearby stores.

Unverified footage posted to social media purporting to capture some of the incident showed armed police officers surrounding a man lying on the ground on Streatham High Road.

They then abruptly moved away, urging onlookers to move back, as other emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.

Britain has seen a spate of terrorist attacks in recent years.

In the most recent incident on November 29, 2019, convicted terrorist Usman Khan killed two people before being shot dead by police on London Bridge.