Scotland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command is treating an incident of a car crashing into the security barriers outside the Parliament building in London on Tuesday morning as a terrorist attack.
Three people were injured as the car crashed into barriers outside the Houses of Parliament, with armed officers swooping on the scene instantly to arrest the driver of the vehicle, who looked calm as he was handcuffed and led away. The suspect, in his late 20s, has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences and remains in custody at a south London police station.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, National Lead for Counter-Terrorism Policing in the UK, said the man was not cooperating with police as they work to establish his identity.
"Our priority is to formally establish the identity of the suspect and his motivation if we can. He is not currently cooperating," he said, adding that the suspect was not known to security services or under surveillance.
Basu added: "There is no intelligence at this time of further danger to Londoners or to the rest of the UK connected to this incident.
“Given that this appears to be a deliberate attack, the method and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident.”
Giving details of the incident, Basu said that at 07:37hrs (local time) a silver Ford Fiesta collided with cyclists and pedestrians before hitting a barrier and coming to a stop outside the Houses of Parliament. Two people were taken to hospital and one man has since been discharged while a woman remains in hospital being treated for “serious but non-life-threatening injuries”. Another man was also treated at the scene but didn’t require hospital treatment.
“We are treating the scene and Parliament Square as a crime scene. Cordons are likely to be in place for some time as the investigation team continues to carry out its important work to establish what happened,” Basu said.
A meeting of the UK government's Cobra emergency committee was also convened on Tuesday afternoon in the wake of the attack.
"My thoughts are with those injured in the incident in Westminster and my thanks to the emergency services for their immediate and courageous response," British Prime Minister Theresa May said.
UK home secretary Sajid Javid and London Mayor Sadiq Khan also praised emergency services and security personnel for their “rapid” response to contain the incident.
Britain’s terror threat level remains at “severe”, which means an attack is highly likely, since a series of terrorist attacks last year. The high level of armed police presence near Houses of Parliament in London as well as further bolstered security barriers made of steel and concrete remain in place since the nearby Westminster Bridge attack in March 2017 claimed four lives, when Islamic State (ISIS) inspired Khalid Masood ploughed a car into crowds before running up to the gates of Parliament and stabbing a police officer to death.
In the latest attack, the Met Police had earlier said it was “keeping an open mind” regarding the motive behind the incident as the Met’s Counter-Terrorism Command took charge of the investigation.
London Ambulance Service said in a statement that it had “treated two people at the scene for injuries that are not believed to be serious and have taken them to hospital”, while a third patient with minor injuries was assessed at the scene.
The area around Parliament Square was cordoned off as investigations continue, something that was described as a terrorism response cordon — which is a usual reaction to incidents of this nature near any high-security hotspots in the British capital.
A silver car was seen crashed into the large steel barriers that are erected around the Houses of Parliament complex in Westminster. It was seen wedged into flap-style barriers that allows vehicles access to the House of Lords end of the complex, giving the impression that the driver may have been trying to gain access to the Parliament building.
British Transport Police said it was increasing patrols in England, Scotland and Wales and that its officers would be "highly visible on trains and at stations".
Witnesses said they saw the car crash into the barriers deliberately at speed, with some reporting smoke emanating from the hood of the car.
"It looked deliberate... it didn't look like an accident," said one eyewitness, who also saw cyclists being hit by the vehicle.
Heavy armed police presence could be seen in the area as the incident unfolded, many of whom were later seen exiting the cordoned off area.
The incident occurred at peak rush hour, resulting in major travel disruptions as Westminster tube station was shut down and road closures put in place. The ongoing parliamentary recess period meant there would have been no MPs or peers in the Houses of Parliament or on their way into the building. However, hundreds of workers and officials would have been within the complex, including construction crew involved in refurbishment work on the Palace of Westminster, which houses the iconic Big Ben.
The UK has been on high alert since the March 2017 attack near Parliament, which was followed by a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in May, which claimed 23 lives. In June last year, a group of three ISIS-inspired men rammed a vehicle into pedestrians in London Bridge area before going on a stabbing frenzy, killing eight people before being shot by armed officers.