Updated at 11pm in London.
Five people have died and about 40 more were injured Wednesday (March 22) after what police have described as an “Islamist-related” terrorism incident outside the British parliament in Westminster, London. A man driving a car ran down a number of people on nearby Westminster bridge, crashed the vehicle, ran into the parliament grounds armed with a knife, and stabbed a policeman. Security forces then shot and killed the attacker.
The policeman, now named as 48-year-old Keith Palmer, and three other members of the public have died. The police’s acting deputy commissioner, Mark Rowley, said that police think they know who the attacker was—their “working assumption” is that it was “Islamist-related terrorism.” They haven’t named the attacker yet. Earlier police said a full counter-terrorism investigation had been opened. Parliament, which is housed in the Palace of Westminster, was put on lockdown for most of the evening following the afternoon attack.
One woman was also been pulled from the River Thames after the attack and suffered serious injuries. Armed police and other emergency services are on the scene, while the roads around parliament have been cleared of people and traffic. Extra police will be around London and the UK for the next few days. Parliament and Westminster is a heavily secured area with a high police presence.
