Woman killed, 5 hurt in London knife attack; suspect held

The American woman killed in a London knife attack was married to a Florida State University psychology professor teaching overseas, university officials said Thursday. Horton was one of five victims who were injured in the attack that took place on August 3, 2016, in a central area of London, near the British Museum. None had life-threatening injuries.

A 19-year-old Norwegian national of Somali origin was arrested on suspicion of murder after the attack on Wednesday night.

Another woman and four men were treated in hospital, though three of them were later discharged. Police officers and London Ambulance Service attended to the scene.

The attack came on a day Scotland Yard announced that 600 additional armed officers will be deployed around Londons major sites, including British Museum, as part of anti-terror plans in the wake of ISIS attacks in Europe, and days after Metropolitan Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said a terror attack in the United Kingdom was a case of “when, not if”.

The victim who died was identified by officials as an American woman in her 60s. “Police have spoken to him and are seeking to establish the full facts including motives for this attack”, he said.

Europe has been on edge for months following a string of recent militant attacks.

Scotland Yard has said no evidence has been found of radicalisation or anything to suggest the attack was “in any way motivated by terrorism”.

“The lady from the Spanish family told me that the guy had passed by, running, stabbing people”, he said.

Armed officers were called to the scene at around 10:30 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m. ET).

“I have seen some reports that say he was bullied but it was just banter – he gave back as good as he got”. “You live with that threat of terrorism or other crimes in the back of your mind”.

The man arrested was neutralised by a taser gun soon after the police were called by members of the public around 2230 GMT on Wednesday (0400 IST Thursday).

Two police officers remained on duty outside the Bulhan family home on Friday, a council flat in Robertson House on a road adjacent to St George’s Hospital in Tooting. In May 2013, two al-Qaeda-inspired London men killed off-duty soldier Lee Rigby in the street near his barracks. In January, mentally ill Muhiddin Mire tried to behead a London Underground passenger, shouting that he was doing it “for Syria”.

Russell Square, a busy area in central London frequented by many tourists and students, was the scene of one of the London bombings in July 2005. There were 186 knife killings in the year to March 2015, according to government statistics – a third of all murders.

While British police officers are not routinely armed, those that are carry handguns and semi-automatic weapons, as well as electric stun guns.