London Terror Attack: 5 Dead and Dozens Injured

by Mark Angelides
 
For the first time in a decade, the UK is again the site of a mass casualty terror attack. An apparently “Lone Wolf” assailant has attacked and mowed down innocent pedestrians and engaged in a knife rampage that has resulted in numerous deaths and injuries. In what is fast becoming the ISIS inspired weapon of choice, the unnamed attacker ()who has since been shot dead by police), drove a car into crowds of people before getting out and continuing his bloody assault right in front of the Houses of Parliament.
The House of Commons and the House of Lords were both put in lock-down as the attack took place on Wednesday afternoon. At around 2:40 p.m. yesterday, the terrorist drove onto Westminster Bridge and began running into people indiscriminately. This method of terror attack is encouraged by Islamic State propagandists and was used to devastating effect last year in both Nice and Berlin.
A police officer, Keith palmer, who was on duty as the “Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Service” tried to stop the assailant entering parliament; at which point he was stabbed and died from his injuries. Some of those attacked on the bridge have suffered “catastrophic” injuries.

A witness to the attack, Ricky Longley recounts: “We were just walking up to the station and there was a loud bang and a guy, someone, crashed a car and took some pedestrians out.
“They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben. A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman.”
A Parliamentary sketch writer for the Daily Mail witnessed the attack from his window overlooking the scene:
“Then I saw a thick-set man dressed in black clothes, he looked I would say about 40 years old, I don’t think he had much hair, running … through the gates. He seemed to have something in his hand, a stick or something like that.”
A policeman who tried to challenge the man had fallen over, Letts said, “and the attacker was hitting him, possibly striking him or knifing him”
“He got about 15 yards or so when he was shot by two plain-clothes men who had come out of the building, having been summoned by the uniformed police,” said Letts. Before shooting, they shouted something at the man, “and he appeared to ignore them and still ran towards them, and they shot him about three times”.
British Prime Minister, Theresa May, called an emergency summit with COBRA to finalize a plan of action. London is now on Terror Alert: Severe. Which means that they are expecting another attack but have no information regarding one.
The motivations of the attacker are “officially” unknown, but many within the police force and the public at large are assuming this is an “Islam Related” attack.