Woolwich killing: Soldier dead after machete attack

Woolwich killing: Soldier dead after machete attack

A politically-motivated Islamist terror attack in London is believed left a serving soldier dead and seen two people shot.

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A politically-motivated Islamist terror attack in London is believed left a serving soldier dead and seen two people shot.

 

A man reported to be a serving soldier is dead and two people have been shot in Woolwich, south east London, after what Sky sources understand is being treated as a terror attack.

Downing Street has called a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee after the incident  in John Wilson Street.

Sky sources understand that senior police officers believe the killing was likely to be a politically-motivated Islamist attack.

Dozens of weapons - including a number of knives - and pools of blood could be seen on the ground, where a man wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt is said to have been attacked.

Woolwich
The incident happened around a mile from the Royal Artillery Barracks

The Metropolitan Police confirmed one person had died following the incident and said the Independent Police Complaints Commission had now taken over the investigation.

Photographs taken at the scene show three people lying on the ground. Their condition was not clear.

Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford told Sky News he believed the deceased was a serving soldier.

He said he had spoken to both borough commander Richard Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Bob Christopher at  Royal Artillery Barracks  - which is around a mile from the scene of the attack.

Mr Raynsford said: "One individual is dead, two others are seriously injured and in hospital.

"The circumstances causing the incident are not yet clear. It's been suggested it was the product of a road traffic accident, but that's pure speculation.

Woolwich
An aerial shot of the scene

"I'll be talking to everyone who is involved, we will be trying to do everything possible to try and ensure calm in the area. People will be very, very shocked.

"We think a serving soldier was the victim. We don't know the circumstances surrounding the incident."

Schools in the area have been placed on lockdown.

Police were sent to the scene at around 2.20pm. The immediate area has been shut down, with eyewitnesses describing the incident on Twitter as "horrific".

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We believe at this stage officers were called to reports of an assault."

London Air Ambulance confirmed one patient was airlifted from the scene, while another was taken away by road ambulance.

Bystanders on the scene of the killing

Emergency services on the scene of the killing

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