Terror alert as man `attacking police` shot outside Palace of Westminster
An officer has been reportedly stabbed as a knife-wielding man clashed with officers in a major “terrorist” incident outside the Houses of Parliament.
An officer has been reportedly stabbed as a knife-wielding man clashed with officers in a major security meltdown outside the Houses of Parliament.
The attacker is believed to have been shot as the Palace of Westminster was placed in lockdown by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
Prime Minister Theresa May, who had been in PMQs, was in the division lobby when she was alerted and bundled into a car.
The sitting of the House of Commons was suspended and MPs were told to stay in their chambers as officers sealed off the entrances.
A number of people reported seeing a man with a knife in a confrontation with police before shots were heard.
Onlookers have told of scenes of panic with tourists fleeing as gunfire broke out in Westminster.
Immediately before the incident, at around 2.45pm, a crowd of passers-by was seen running from the direction of Westminster Bridge and around the corner into Parliament Square. In the seemingly unrelated incident, several people were reportedly injured after being hit by a car.
Commons leader David Lidington told MPs: Colleagues will have appreciated that events have been moving rapidly and I want to emphasise that the knowledge that I have which is definite is so far very limited.
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 MPS tweeted: We were called at approximately 2.40pm to reports of an incident at Westminster Bridge.
We are treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise
London Ambulance Service Deputy Director of Operations, Pauline Cranmer, said: We were called at 2.40pm to Westminster Bridge to reports of an incident, with the first crew arriving within six minutes.
We have sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, Londons Air Ambulance and our Hazardous Area Response Team.
We are working closely with other members of the emergency services at the scene, with our priority being to ensure patients receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible.
We have declared a major incident and our priority is to assess patients and ensure that they are treated and taken to hospital as soon as possible.
As we are very busy dealing with this incident, we would ask the public to only call us in a genuine emergency.