A child was killed and several other people were hospitalized after a sword-wielding man went stabbing in north-east London early Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The child, a 13-year-old boy, died after being taken to hospital, Stewart Bell, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The series of stabbings left four more people injured, Mr Bell said, including two police officers. All four remain hospitalized, he said.
Just before 7am police received reports of a vehicle driving into a house and several people stabbed in Hainault, a neighborhood in north-east London, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police.
Video of the incident circulating on social media showed a man wearing a yellow hoodie and brandishing a large sword amid several houses in the neighborhood.
The suspect, who was not named, then attacked other members of the public and two police officers, police said. A 36-year-old man was arrested at the scene.
Ade Adelekan, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said there was no ongoing threat to the community and that the incident did not appear to be linked to terrorism.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement that he was shocked by the news and that additional patrols would be added to the area.
“Police officers and emergency services showed our city at its best: running into danger to protect others and I thank them from the bottom of my heart,” he said.
James Cleverly, Britain's Home Secretary, said on social media that he was regularly updated on the incident. He urged people not to speculate or share footage of the episode online.
According to the Office for National Statistics, knife crime has been on the rise in England and Wales for around a decade. The data shows that knife crimes recorded by police in the year ending September 2023 increased by 5%, to almost 49,000 crimes, compared to the previous year, although they were lower than in 2020.