London – The attacker who rammed pedestrians and stabbed a police officer in central London was a British-born man once investigated for “violent extremism,” Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday.
“The case is historic. He was not part of the current intelligence picture,” May told lawmakers as the House of Commons reopened following a lockdown on Wednesday afternoon.
The Islamic State extremist group later claimed that the attacker was one of its “soldiers.”
The suspect drove a car into pedestrians on central London’s Westminster Bridge before going after officers with a knife. He killed three people, including one officer, before being shot dead.
Hundreds of lawmakers were kept inside the parliament building for up to five hours immediately after the attack.
“There was no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot,” May said.
“What I can confirm is that the man was British born and that – some years ago – he was once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism,” she said, adding that he was “a peripheral figure.”
Police detained eight people in raids at several addresses in London and Birmingham in connection with the deadly rampage.
The assailant acted alone and was inspired by international terrorism, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said.
Islamic State’s semi-official Amaq agency said in an online claim that the attack was in response to the radical group’s call for targeting citizens of countries participating in the fight against it.
An international US-led alliance is carrying out an air campaign against Islamic State in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
May said that those injured in the Westminster attack included 12 Britons, three French children, two Romanians, four South Koreans, two Greeks, and one each from Germany, Poland, Ireland, China, Italy and the United States. Three police officers were also wounded.
Before May’s speech, lawmakers held a minute’s silence for the victims of the terrorist attack.
The one-minute silence was also observed by London’s Metropolitan Police, city hall and other workplaces across the city.
It began at 9:33 am (0933 GMT) to signify the 933 badge number of the parliamentary protection officer who died in the attack, 48-year-old Keith Palmer.
May paid tribute to the “extraordinary efforts” to save Palmer’s life, highlighting the role of Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood, who gave the stricken officer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
She said people across Britain were “going about their days and getting on with their lives” as normal.
“It is in these actions – millions of acts of normality – that we find the best response to terrorism,” May said.
“My thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy are with all those who have been affected by yesterday’s awful violence,” Queen Elizabeth II said, praising the police response to the attack.
The attacker was shot and killed by police at the gates of parliament after fatally stabbing the officer, Assistant Deputy Commissioner Mark Rowley said.
Seven of the 29 injured remain in critical condition at hospital, Rowley said.
While extra police have been deployed across Britain, he stressed that there was “no specific information about further threats to the public.”
–dpa
