Following a stabbing in Leicester Square in the heart of the city that left an 11-year-old girl “seriously injured,” London’s Metropolitan Police announced on Monday that a 32-year-old male had been taken into custody.
The little victim’s condition is “not life-threatening,” but she will need more hospital treatment, according to the police. Her mother, 34, also sustained minor wounds.
The 32-year-old male was taken into custody at the scene, according to a police statement, and no other people were being sought after in relation to the attack.
Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah stated, “An urgent investigation is now underway and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened.”
We don’t think the victims and the suspect knew one another at this point.
“At this point, there is nothing to suggest the attack was terror-related, but we are still working to determine the suspect’s motive.”
It occurs precisely two weeks after the knife assault in Southport, northwest England, which left two adults and eight additional youngsters hurt in addition to three girls dead.
Following online rumors that the attacker was a Muslim seeking asylum, the mass stabbing caused riots throughout England. An 18-year-old British national has been accused of killing and attempting to kill.
Additionally, that case is not being classified as terrorist.
“Awful”
The stabbing on Monday happened in a busy tourist and shopping district right in the middle of the British city.
On the west side of Leicester Square, a security guard stopped an attacker who was threatening an 11-year-old child and took away the man’s knife, according to the Press Association (PA) news agency.
Abdullah, a 29-year-old security officer at a nearby store, claimed to have heard a cry and then seen someone “stabbing a kid.”
He stated, “I just put him down on the floor, held him, and took the knife away from him. I jumped on him and held the hand in which he was [carrying] a knife.”
“After that, a few more joined, and we just detained him until the police arrived.”
The suspect, a “young, white, skinny male wearing a black T-shirt and jeans,” is reported as having targeted the girl specifically, according to Desmond, 45, who spoke with PA.
The witness, a street performer who poses as Darth Vader every day in Leicester Square, claimed she was stabbed in the head and put in a headlock by the attacker.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, it was so horrible,” he remarked.
“I noticed the woman was yelling as loudly as she could.”
It was described as “a horrific incident” by Jessah, who also praised “those who bravely intervened.”
“They demonstrated the best of London by putting themselves in danger,” she continued.
