LONDON — Three people were killed and 20 others were wounded Wednesday in a terrorist attack at Britain's Parliament that sent crowds of tourists and lawmakers running for their lives.
The victims included a police officer who was stabbed at the House of Commons and died despite the efforts of doctors and a passing government minister to save him.
What happened?
The incident began when a man used a car to run down several pedestrians on the iconic Westminster Bridge. At least one woman was killed by the vehicle and others were left with "catastrophic injuries," according to police. The driver then rammed his car into the Parliament gates and fatally stabbed a police officer as he tried to enter the building.
Victims
British police said three people were killed, including one police officer and a woman. Twenty people, including three police officers, were wounded.
What we know
- An attacker struck pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge and then crashed near Parliament.
- A man armed with a knife tried to enter Parliament. He stabbed and killed a police officer before he was shot and killed by police.
- Twelve people were treated for serious injuries. Eight others suffered less serious wounds.
- Police said the attack, which came on the first anniversary of the Brussels terrorist attacks, was terrorism.
- Prime minister, London mayor vow Britons will not be intimidated.
- President Donald Trump promises full assistance to Britain.
- Counterterrorism police sent to British offices and institutions in New York City.
Two other victims were struck by a 4×4 vehicle that plowed into people walking on nearby Westminster Bridge. Some of the pedestrians suffered "catastrophic" injuries, doctors said. A woman was pulled alive from the River Thames below the bridge with serious injuries.
The assailant, who is thought to have been acting alone, was brought to the ground by a gunshot and also died.
Twelve people were treated for "serious injuries" at hospitals, and eight others were treated for less serious injuries at the scene, said Pauline Cranmer, deputy director of operations for the London Ambulance Service.
The assault came on the first anniversary of terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, that killed 32 people, and police said Wednesday's incident was also terrorism.
Prime Minister Theresa May called the attacker a "sick and depraved terrorist" and said, "The location of this attack was no accident."
"The terrorist chose to strike at the heart of our national capital," May said in a nationally televised address outside 10 Downing Street.
May announced that Parliament would meet as scheduled on Thursday and said Londoners refused to allow "the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart."
"Let me make it clear today," she vowed. "Any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure."
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