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Shooting Reported Outside U.K. Parliament U.K. Parliament Assailant Shot by Police
(35 minutes later)
LONDON — Members of the House of Commons found themselves under a lockdown on Wednesday afternoon after reports of a shooting outside the British Parliament. LONDON — Britain’s Parliament was placed on lockdown on Wednesday afternoon after a man stabbed a police officer and was then shot by other officers. The Metropolitan Police said it was treating the violence as “a terrorist incident,” as the country’s seat of power was put on high alert.
Numerous witnesses reported hearing gunfire near Portcullis House, an office building housing lawmakers and members of their staff. The Metropolitan Police in London confirmed that officers had been summoned at about 2:40 p.m. to Westminster Bridge, which crosses the River Thames next to Parliament, over reports of “a firearms incident.” The BBC broadcast images showing people, appearing to be wounded, receiving care while lying on the bridge. Witnesses also reported that a motorist on Westminster Bridge, next to Parliament, operating a large vehicle, mowed down at least five people before coming to a halt, but it was not clear if the motorist was also the assailant.
Inside the House of Commons, astonished lawmakers were told that they should not leave the chamber. Witnesses said they heard gunfire near Portcullis House, an office building for lawmakers and members of their staff. The police said officers had been summoned at about 2:40 p.m. to the bridge because of reports of “a firearms incident.”
“At the moment, the very clear advice from the police and the director of security in the house is that we should remain under suspension, and that the chamber should remain in lockdown until we’ve received advice that it is safe to go back to normal procedures,” David Lidington, the leader of the House of Commons, told lawmakers in remarks broadcast live on the BBC. But basic details remained unclear an hour after the episode.
The BBC broadcast images showing people, appearing to be wounded, receiving care while lying on the bridge.
Inside the House of Commons, the astonished lawmakers were told that they should not leave the chamber.
“At the moment, the very clear advice from the police and the director of security in the house is that we should remain under suspension, and that the chamber should remain in lockdown until we’ve received advice that it is safe to go back to normal procedures,” David Lidington, the leader of the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament, told lawmakers in remarks broadcast live on the BBC.
Mr. Lidington, while cautioning that his information, was “very limited,” said: “What I am able to say to the House is that there has been a serious incident within the estate. It seems that a police officer has been stabbed; that the alleged assailant was shot by armed police. An air ambulance is attending the scene to remove the casualties. There are also reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity.”
The parliamentary complex and the Westminster station on the Tube, London’s subway system, were locked down, and the BBC reported that Prime Minister Theresa May was quickly ushered into a silver Jaguar as the gunfire erupted. An air ambulance landed inside the complex, apparently to evacuated injured people.
Jayne Wilkinson, 59, from Birmingham, England, was near the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square with her partner, David Turner, 56, when they saw people suddenly running from the Parliament building.
The couple said they saw a middle-aged man holding a knife. He ignored warnings from the police, running though the gates into the compound of Parliament, she said.
“They were shouting to warn him,” Ms. Wilkinson said. Soon after, she and her partner heard three gunshots and saw the man on the ground.
Three construction workers who were inside the grounds of Westminster Palace said they heard shots fired in rapid succession before they were escorted off the premises. “It was bang-bang-bang,” one of them said.
Reuben Saunders, an American student at Cambridge University who was visiting Parliament, said he was on his way out of the building when he saw a police officer being attacked by the assailant.
“He was at the gate, I heard screaming,” Mr. Saunders said, adding that the assailant had two knives or similar weapons. “I saw the man on the ground being repeatedly stabbed, or pummeled,” he said. “There was another policeman standing by, I thought he should have shot, but maybe he was unarmed.”
Mr. Saunders said that two or three other police officers arrived and, at that point, he retreated. “There were two or three gunshots,” he said.
Robert Vaudry, 52, a fund manager from Stratford-upon-Avon, England, said he emerged from the Westminster subway station around 2:40 p.m. for a meeting with a lawmaker when he realized that something was amiss.
“I came out of the Tube and there were two armed policemen,” he said in an interview. “One grabbed my arm, pushed me to the left and said, ‘Get out of here,’ ” he said. “They were shouting at everyone to get away.”
As he spoke, police officers were cordoning off the area. One officer shouted, “We need everyone to move back past Downing Street.”
Christopher Hope, a journalist for The Daily Telegraph, reported at 2:41 p.m. that he had heard shots fired outside Parliament.Christopher Hope, a journalist for The Daily Telegraph, reported at 2:41 p.m. that he had heard shots fired outside Parliament.
Kevin Schofield, a journalist at the political website Politics Home, reported that a police officer had been injured, and that he had seen an assailant carrying a knife or a gun.Kevin Schofield, a journalist at the political website Politics Home, reported that a police officer had been injured, and that he had seen an assailant carrying a knife or a gun.
Reuters said that the parliamentary complex had been locked down. Several members of Parliament said that they been told to find cover. The BBC reported that an air ambulance had landed inside the complex. Britain has not suffered a large-scale terrorist attack since July 7, 2005, when bomb attacks on subway trains and on a bus killed more than 50 people. Political violence is relatively rare in Britain, where gun ownership is seriously restricted.
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In 1979, a lawmaker was assassinated near the Parliament building. Airey Neave, a Conservative Party member, was killed when his car was blown up.
Radoslaw Sikorski, a former foreign minister who was in the area, told the BBC he had seen a collision and saw someone down in great distress. He said he saw a vehicle mowing people down and that at least five people were seriously injured. He said he saw at least one person was bleeding. “Someone was down in great distress,” he said.
Tom Peck, political editor for the newspaper The Independent, said on Twitter: “There was a loud bang. Screams. Commotion. Then the sound of gunshots. Armed police everywhere.”
President Trump was briefed on the shooting, according to the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer.