Golders Green Stabbing: Two Jewish Men Injured in London Terrorist Attack

Two Jewish men have been stabbed in Golders Green, north London, an attack police have declared as a terrorist incident. The men, aged 34 and 76, remain in a stable condition in hospital. A 45-year-old man has been arrested. It comes after a spate of arson attacks against Jewish property in London in recent weeks.

What happened?

The Metropolitan Police said its officers responded at 11:16 BST on Wednesday after receiving reports that people had been stabbed in Highfield Avenue, which runs off Golders Green Road. The suspect is first seen on CCTV footage take on Highfield Avenue, timestamped at 11:15 BST. He is jogging along the pavement towards Golders Green Road when he appears to attack a man, who he chases out of view.

Another clip, filmed from a car driving north along Golders Green Road, shows the suspect chasing after a man on the pavement. More CCTV footage - timestamped to 11:20 BST - shows the suspect approaching a bus stop and repeatedly attacking a man waiting there, who he then pushes on to the road and out of view.

Multiple videos and images of the suspect being detained by police have been verified by the BBC. One officer Tasers him, sending the suspect to the floor, while shouting at him to drop the knife. Police can then be seen administering CPR and later footage shows the suspect being lifted on a stretcher into an ambulance.

The Metropolitan Police later released footage from the body-worn cameras of the responding officers. The clip appears to show the suspect walking towards the officers before the Taser is deployed. Officers can be heard yelling "drop the knife" repeatedly before the suspect falls to the ground. They continue to repeat the instruction while the suspect is on the ground and as they work to restrain him.

Who is the suspect?

A man, aged 45, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police say he is a British national, born in Somalia. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said officers "confronted a man they believed to be a terrorist, who refused to show his hands, who was violent and continued to pose a clear threat". He added that officers feared the suspect was carrying an explosive device and Tasered him while he continued to stab them.

Rowley said: "We're also working with our partners in the security services to ensure we have a full intelligence picture and one of the lines of inquiry is whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community in London."

The Met said officers were carrying out a search at an address in south-east London. It added detectives are also looking into an incident that was reported to police and it is believed that the suspect is the same individual arrested in Golders Green. The Met said police were called at approximately 08:50 BST to an incident at an address in Great Dover Street, in the Borough area of Southwark, where a "suspect who is reported to have been armed with a knife, is believed to have had an altercation with the occupant before leaving".

What has the reaction been?

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who represents Britain's largest Jewish community, said: "I'm sad to say that today's event proves that if you are visibly Jewish you're not safe and far more needs to be done... "It's a sustained effort to terrorise the Jewish community, which will not succeed, because we're a strong and resilient community. We face these kind of attacks and these incidents with great fortitude. However, this cannot be allowed to continue."