Police surround mosque in central London after a man was stabbed to death on a nearby road and ‘the attackers fled towards the place of worship’
Armed police have sealed off a mosque in London
Armed police have sealed off a mosque in London after a man was fatally stabbed on a nearby street and the attackers reportedly fled towards the place of worship.
The victim was found with stab wounds in a housing block in Cunningham Place, Westminster, at about 6.15pm today.
He was treated at the scene with help from London Ambulance Service paramedics but later died in hospital.
Officers are now searching the area near the London Central Mosque near Regent’s Park for suspects.
Video from outside the mosque shared on social media showed armed police at the gates as a helicopter circled overhead.
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Video from outside the mosque shared on social media showed armed police at the gates as a helicopter circled overhead
A police cordon is in place at the mosque following the incident, with officers flanking parts of the building’s perimeter.
Bahir Moulana said that as he was walking towards the mosque the police were pushing people back before they closed the main gate.
With a number of armed officers at the scene, the 39 year old said it gave him the ‘jitters’, especially following the recent attack at two mosques in New Zealand.
‘I saw all the blue lights and my heart was in my mouth,’ Mr Moulana said.
With worshippers eventually let out of the building, he added: ‘There was one girl who said she saw two guys run in. Someone else told me the police were chasing them.’
Mr Moulana said he saw two people being detained and put in handcuffs by the police at the mosque.
‘The police just surrounded them. I saw that at around 7pm,’ he added.
The Met tweeted to confirm that the attack was not terror-related.
‘We do have officers searching the area for the suspects,’ a Metropolitan police spokesperson said.
It said: ‘Officers continue to deal with a stabbing at Cunningham Place/Park Road, Westminster. We can confirm that this incident is not terror related. Searches for suspects are ongoing.’
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A Metropolitan police spokesperson tweeted: ‘Officers continue to deal with a stabbing at Cunningham Place/Park Road, Westminster. We can confirm that this incident is not terror related. Searches for suspects are ongoing’
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Officers are now searching the area near the London Central Mosque near Regent’s Park for suspects
A section of the A41 Park Road was also closed off by police.
Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North, said of the attack: ‘Deeply saddened to hear this awful news. Police have been in contact with me and we await further details.’
No arrests have been made.
The stabbing is the 30th killing in London in 2019.
Just a month ago police chiefs up and down the country declared Britain’s knife crime epidemic a ‘national emergency’ and demanded more funding to help combat it.
Some demanded a return to stop-and-search, which has in the past led to accusations of profiling.
Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, called for emergency section 60 powers to be rolled out across the country.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid pleaded for more more money to put millions of bobbies on the beat in a Cabinet intervention at the start of March.
He urged Prime Minister Theresa May – who was Home Secretary for six years – to sign off proposed new powers to make it easier for police to stop and search those suspected of carrying blades.
