London - The attacker who killed three
people near parliament in London before being shot dead was
named on Thursday as a 52-year-old British-born man, Khalid
Masood, who was once investigated by MI5 intelligence officers
over concerns about violent extremism.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a
statement issued by its Amaq news agency, but did not name
Masood and gave no details. It was not clear whether the
attacker was directly connected to the jihadist group.
Police said Masood was born in the county of Kent in
south-east England and was most recently living in the West
Midlands region of central England.
"Masood was not the subject of any current investigations
and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a
terrorist attack," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
"However, he was known to police and has a range of previous
convictions for assaults, including GBH (grievous bodily harm),
possession of offensive weapons and public order offences."
Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament the attacker had
once been investigated by the MI5 intelligence agency over
concerns about violent extremism, but was a peripheral figure.
Police said Masood had never been convicted of a terrorism
offence. His first conviction was in 1983 for criminal damage
and his last one was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.
During five minutes of mayhem in the heart of London on
Wednesday, Masood sped across Westminster Bridge in a car,
ploughing into pedestrians. He then ran through the gates of the
nearby parliament building and fatally stabbed an unarmed
policeman before being shot dead.
Police arrested eight people at six locations in London and
Birmingham in the investigation into the attack, which May said
was inspired by a warped Islamist ideology.
The Enterprise rental car company said the vehicle used in
the attack had been rented from its Spring Hill branch in
Birmingham, which is located in the West Midlands.
About 40 people were injured in the attack, of whom 29
remain in hospital, seven in critical condition.
May visited some of the wounded in hospital on Thursday, her
spokesman said.
Speaking at the United Nations in New York, British Foreign
Secretary Boris Johnson urged Internet providers and social
media networks to do more to curb extremist propaganda.
"They’ve got to look at the stuff that’s going up on their
sites, they’ve got to take steps to invigilate it, to take it
down where they can," he said.
The bloodshed in London took place on the first anniversary
of attacks that killed 32 people in Brussels, and resembled
Islamic State-inspired attacks in France and Germany where
vehicles were driven into crowds.
The dead were Masood, two members of the public, and Keith
Palmer, the 48-year-old policeman stabbed by Masood.
"He will be deeply missed. We love him so much," Palmer's
family said in a statement. He was married with a five-year-old
daughter.
A minute's silence was held in parliament and outside police
headquarters on Thursday morning. A police twitter account
earlier said it was held at 0933 GMT because 933 was the
shoulder number on Palmer's uniform, but that tweet was later
deleted and police released a different number.
The attack on parliament was the deadliest in Britain since
2005, when 52 people were killed by Islamist suicide bombers on
London's public transport system. Police had given Wednesday's
death toll as five but revised it to four on Thursday.
The casualties included 12 Britons, three French children,
two Romanians, four South Koreans, one German, one Pole, one
Chinese, one American and two Greeks, May said.
"My thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathy are with all
those who have been affected by yesterday's awful violence,"
Queen Elizabeth said in a message.
US tourist Kurt Cochran was named as one of the dead in a
Facebook post by family member Shantell Payne.
"With a heavy heart I must pass the sad news of our
beautiful brother, father, husband, son and friend Kurt Cochran,
he could not overcome the injuries he received in the London
terror attacks," Payne wrote.
Her post said Cochran's wife, Melissa Payne Cochran, was in
hospital with a broken leg and rib and a cut on her head.
The couple were in Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding
anniversary.
US President Donald Trump paid homage to Cochran in a
tweet, calling him "a great American".
Many have been shocked that the attacker was able to cause
such mayhem in the heart of the capital equipped with nothing
more than a hired car and a knife.
"This kind of attack, this lone-wolf attack, using things
from daily life, a vehicle, a knife, are much more difficult to
forestall," defence minister Michael Fallon told the BBC.
Three French high-school students on a school trip to London
were among the injured. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc
Ayrault met some of their fellow students near the hospital
where they were being treated. Their lives were not in danger.
Ayrault later attended the session in parliament where May
spoke to show solidarity. France has been hit by repeated deadly
Islamist attacks over the past two years.