BIRMINGHAM, England — British authorities have identified the man responsible for Wednesday’s terrorist attack in London as 52-year-old Khalid Masood, born as Adrian Russell Ajao. Originally from Kent, he had been living in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, where neighbors said Thursday they had last seen him several months ago.
Marjoli Gajecka, 26, frequently visited her mother's house next to Masood’s apartment. “I immediately recognized him when I saw the photo of him lying on an ambulance stretcher,” said Gajecka, referring to a photo that had circulated on social media and purportedly showed the attacker. Masood was fatally shot by police after a vehicle and knife rampage near Parliament in London that left three people dead and at least 29 wounded.
“They were just an ordinary family. I would never have assumed that he was in any way related to terrorist activity,” she said. According to Gajecka, Masood lived in Birmingham with a wife and at least two children — one girl and one boy. He was sometimes seen in his garden, playing with his children, Gajecka and other former neighbors said.
