A police officer has been stabbed and a
suspected assailant shot outside the Houses
of Parliament, shortly after a car is reported
to have rammed into members of the public
on Westminster Bridge.
At least three gun shots were heard by those
inside Westminster, and proceedings in the
House of Commons have been suspended as
police deal with what they tentatively
described as a "terrorist incident".
The deputy speaker of the Commons, David
Lidington, announced the suspension in the
House, saying a police officer had been
stabbed and the "alleged assailant shot by
armed police".
Early reports indicate the car, which mounted
the pavement on Westminster Bridge and
mowed into around a dozen people, was the
same vehicle which then rammed into the
gates of Westminster just around the corner.
Security sources described the suspected
assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who
is understood to have left the car before
attacking a police officer with a seven-to-
eight inch knife.
The police officer was seen wounded but
moving, after falling to the ground clutching
his arm or shoulder. At least one man was
seen running towards the exit of New Palace
Yard, underneath Big Ben.
Police were seen shouting at him,
presumably to stop. Shots were then heard.
It is unclear at this stage whether one or
more men were involved.
(PA wire)
(Reuters)
MP's wait until the situation is under control
in Westminster (BBC News)
Dozens of police, many armed, ran around
the gate of parliament in the moments after
the shots were fired.
Nearby the main gate, just outside the
entrance to Westminster Hall, a crowd of
police and paramedics crouched over one of
the victims and just metres away police
pointed their weapons to an individual who
was lying motionless on the floor.
Paramedics worked furiously pulling medical
supplies from their bags and dressing
wounds.
The traffic all around Parliament was stopped
and the road immediately outside the gate
was cleared. Inside Parliament, workers were
told to stay away from the windows as the
building went into lockdown.
Police carried out CPR on one of the
individuals who had been shot, in an attempt
to keep them alive.
At 2.50pm an air ambulance arrived and
landed in Parliament Square to take the
injured to hospital. Police continued to do
CPR to one of the injured.
A spokesperson for Metropolitan Police said:
"We are treating this as a terrorist incident
until we know otherwise."
Earlier, the force tweeted: "We are aware of
reports of an incident at Westminster. We will
put more information out as soon as we can.
"We were called at approx 2.40pm to reports
of an incident at Westminster Bridge. Being
treated as a firearms incident - police on
scene."
Theresa May was still on the parliamentary
estate following Prime Minister's Questions
when the attacker struck.
Witnesses saw the Prime Minister being led
to her car, a silver jaguar, with the vehicle
about to leave when officers then prevented it
from driving into New Palace Yard where the
incident occurred.
A Downing Street source confirmed Ms May
was "OK".
A witness said she saw around 100 panicked
members of the public running from the
scene.
She told the Press Association: "As I was
coming through the doors at Portcullis
House, a policeman grabbed someone who
was coming in and threw him out.
"As we were coming though the glass doors I
was told by one security guard to get out
while another one told me to get in.
"As I walked in I heard a security guard get a
radio message saying 'a policeman has been
stabbed'.
"Then I walked in as police officers and
security start rushing out of the front doors
on to the street.
"When I got inside I was wondering what the
hell was going on and I saw dozens of
panicked people running down the street. The
first stream was around 30 people and the
second stream was 70 people.
"It looked like they were running for their
lives."

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