Westminster shooting incident: What has happened so far

People heard sounds like gunfire near the British Parliament which led to the suspension of a session of Britain’s House of Commons. Police were seen in the Westminster area and the media persons at the Parliament building were asked to stay in their offices. Two people were seen lying on the Parliament ground, according to the Press Association news agency. Police said they had no immediate confirmation about casualties or injuries.

According to the leader of Britain’s House of Commons David Lidington, a man was shot by police at Parliament. He said there were reports of further violent incidents in the area. Police officers were called to investigate the incident. The attack led to suspension of Parliament session as well. Although the police has declared it a terror incident, Britain’s MI5 said it was too early to say if the incident was terror-related.

Lidington said, “A man attacked a police officer at Parliament and was shot by police. he further said that the Parliament complex is in lockdown. Witnesses said a vehicle struck several people on the bridge.

Meanwhile, A European security official has said, “There was increased chatter on jihadi networks onTuesday following the UK’s adoption of an electronics ban aboard flights from certain mostly Muslim countries.”

London police said, “We were treating the incident as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise.” They urged people to stay away from the area. After some time, officials said that a man with a knife attacked a police officer at Parliament and was shot by officers.

Radoslaw Sikorski, former Polish foreign minister posted a video on Twitter which showed people lying injured in the road on Westminster Bridge. Sikorski, a senior fellow at the Harvard Centre for European Studies, said he saw at least five people lying on the ground after being hit by a car. Sikorski told the BBC he, “Heard what I thought was just a collision and then I looked through the window of the taxi and someone down, obviously in great distress. Then I saw a second person down, and I started filming, then I saw three more people down, one of them bleeding profusely.”

British lawmaker Grant Shapps Tweeted: “I was walking through the cloisters of the House of Commons to vote when I heard four gunshots. Police told lawmakers to get down on the ground and crawl to take cover. Police responded instantly. I heard commotion, looked round. Police weapons were drawn, 4 shots, police ordered us to hit ground and get back, get back.”

Meanwhile, the attack has elicited a response from the White House as well. It has briefed President Donald Trump on a gun and knife incident at Britain’s Parliament in London. Trump called it “big news.” His spokesman, Sean Spicer, said the United States will continue to monitor the situation and update the president. Britain’s Parliament was on lockdown after the incident, according to officials.

Witness Rick Longley told the Press Association that he saw a man stabbed a policeman outside Britain’s Parliament. “We were just walking up to the station and there was a loud bang and a guy, someone, crashed a car and took some pedestrians out,” he said. “They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben. A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman. I have never seen anything like that. I just can’t believe what I just saw.” According to AP, Lawmaker Adam Holloway saw people running and then he immediately ran into his office in Parliament to be with his staff. “A lot of us are locked in with our staff at the moment,” he said.

The US State Department said that it was closely monitoring the incident outside Britain’s Parliament and urged Americans in London to avoid the area. Spokesman Mark Toner said on Wednesday, “We stand ready to assist in any way the UK authorities would find helpful.” he also said that the US Embassy in London is closely following the news and stands ready to help any affected Americans. “Our hearts go out to those affected”, he said.

Till now, two persons have been killed and others have sustained ‘catastrophic’ injuries in the incident.