London’s Metropolitan Police say the incidents Saturday night at London Bridge and the Borough Market have been declared “terrorist incidents.” The police also say the event at Vauxhall was a stabbing not connected to the bridge and market incidents.
[Previous update posted at 7:52 p.m. ET]
A van mowed down pedestrians as it sped down London Bridge in the British capital Saturday night, leaving bodies lying in the roadway, a witness to the incident told CNN.
Also Saturday, a man with a “massive knife” entered a restaurant at Borough Market, just south of the bridge, and stabbed two people inside, a witness told CNN on Saturday. The patrons sheltered in the basement and police then arrived at the scene, the witness said. The condition of the stabbed people was not known.
Authorities have not said if the incidents were related. Other details:
• London’s Metropolitan Police said officers responded to reports of a vehicle colliding with pedestrians at 10:08 p.m. (5:08 p.m. ET).
• British Prime Minister Theresa May says the “terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism,” according to a statement.
• The Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee — her top security advisers — Sunday, according to a statement from 10 Downing Street, via Britain’s Press Association.
• “Armed officers responded and shots have been fired” in Borough Market, police tweeted.
• US President Donald Trump has been briefed by the national security team, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said. Trump tweeted: “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!
• Authorities have not provided details of the incident or said how many people are hurt.
Mark Roberts, the witness on the bridge, said the van was traveling south across the River Thames at a high rate of speed and was swerving as it struck several people, knocking one person “about 20 feet into the air.”
An armed Police officer with his weapons on London Bridge.
The van swerved into oncoming lanes before hitting a bus stop and coming to a stop, Roberts said.
“Within my line of sight, there were five or six people on the ground that were not moving,” he said. “It looked to me that the van was aiming at the people.”
Roberts said he heard what sounded like gunshots about 10 minutes later. He estimated 100 people were on the bridge at the time, fewer than earlier in the night because it was getting late.
Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017