Police in London have arrested a man who crashed his car into security barriers near the Houses of Parliament and are holding him on suspicion of terrorism.
The unnamed suspect is a male in his late 20s. He was the only person in the vehicle and reportedly did not have any weapons with him. The police said that CCTV footage showed the car driving towards pedestrians before the crash, which was a factor in their decision to treat this as terrorism, CNN reported.
“Given that this appears to be a deliberate attack, the method and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident,” Neil Basu, the head of counterterrorism policing in the United Kingdom, told reporters outside New Scotland Yard.
At 7:40 a.m. local time, the suspect crashed his silver Ford Fiesta into the barriers. Three people were reported to be hurt in this incident. Two of the three were taken to the hospital, but their injuries are reportedly not serious.
This attack took place not far from the site of the March 2017 attack in which terrorist Khalid Masood killed four people and injured around 50 before crashing his car into the railing in front of Parliament. He then fatally stabbed a police officer before being killed.
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid said, “Huge thanks to our emergency services for their rapid reaction to incident in Westminster this morning. My thoughts are with those injured.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May tweeted out her support for those hurt in the attack:
My thoughts are with those injured in the incident in Westminster and my thanks to the emergency services for their immediate and courageous response.
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) August 14, 2018
President Donald Trump tweeted about the incident too, slamming the “animals” behind it and demanding that it be met with “toughness and strength.”
Another terrorist attack in London...These animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2018
