Two police officers were stabbed on Friday, September 16 in the morning, in central London, announced the London police, specifying that they “are currently being treated in hospital”. “A man has been arrested” in the Leicester Square area, the Metropolitan Police continued in a statement, without details of the condition of the stabbed officers.
The arrested man was also hospitalized. The facts took place around 6 a.m. (7 a.m., Paris time). This attack is not “not treated as related to terrorism”, police said in a statement. London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Times Radio that the injuries to the two officers were not of a life-threatening nature.
The course of the attack, which occurred in the Leicester Square district, remains unclear at this stage. According to the police, the officers encountered, in this area of central London, “a man armed with a knife” who then allegedly stabbed them, causing them to “serious injuries”.
Subdued with a taser, “He was taken to hospital for treatment and remains there at present”according to the police, which specifies that “the investigation into the circumstances of the incident is continuing”.
An “appalling” attack
According to Telegramthe suspect “behaved erratically” when the two police officers, who were unarmed, approached him. The man would have first shown himself to be conciliatory before drawing a knife to stab the agents, in the neck for one, seriously injured, in the arm for the other, according to the conservative daily.
the Times quotes for his part a security guard who assures that the suspect had previously tried to steal things in a business.
This attack comes at a time when a gigantic security device is deployed in the British capital ahead of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which will be held on Monday. Several hundred leaders and crowned heads from around the world are to attend the ceremony which promises to be a “significant challenge”according to the new boss of the London police, Mark Rowley.
Thousands of police officers were requisitioned for this state funeral. The United Kingdom has experienced several attacks in the last ten years. London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the assault a“appalling”recalling the risks taken by the police to ensure the safety of all.
