Stabbings in London, Netherlands kill 2, injure 6 more
Stabbing rampages just hours apart in two major European cities have left two dead and six more injured in possible terrorist attacks that one expert says are sure to leave law enforcement and security officials here in the U.S. paying attention.
London police shot a man wearing a fake explosive vest to death after he stabbed five, killing two, on London Bridge on Friday in what police are treating as a terrorist attack. The man previously had been released from jail following arrests for “terror offenses,” CNN reported Friday night.
Health officials said one of the injured was in critical but stable condition, one was stable and the third had less-serious injuries. Metropolitan Police Chief Cressida Dick said police were working “at full tilt” to determine whether anyone else was involved in the attack.
Minutes after the stabbing report at 2 p.m. local time, witnesses saw a man with a knife being wrestled to the ground by members of the public on the bridge before armed-response officers shot him dead.
Five hours later on Friday, a different assailant stabbed three people in a busy shopping district in the Netherlands — and police continued to search for the perpetrator there.
A Dutch police spokeswoman said it was too early to say whether a terror motive was to blame for the attack in The Hague, and it’s unclear if the incidents are related. The severity of the wounds the three victims — all minors — suffered was also unclear.
Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who led the department through the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the manhunt that followed, told the Herald that these incidents are sure to have security officials and local law enforcement paying attention.
“There are meetings going on today, I guarantee it,” Davis said.
Davis said the holidays are always a time of high alert for law enforcement, and now they’ll be keeping an eye out either for attacks planned in concert with these stabbings — or unaffiliated people who carry out copycat attacks.
“We understand that there’s a very real threat of terrorism, and we know our adversaries seek to attack those types of events,” Davis said of big gatherings, particularly around the holidays.
Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio said, “The Commonwealth Fusion Center is receiving information about the attacks and sharing it with our law enforcement partners.”
Procopio continued, “As always, if the attackers are found to have any connection to Massachusetts, we will take all actions necessary to support the investigations. At this point, we are aware of no existing nexus. As in all suspected terror attacks, we will study how the attack was perpetrated and terminated, in order to determine whether there are lessons and tactics that might apply to security operations in Massachusetts. Troopers are on high alert for suspicious persons and activity at all times, not just in the wake of high-profile attacks. We remind members of the public to be aware of their surroundings, and if they see anyone or anything that appears suspicious or out-of-place to call 911 immediately.”
Boston Police spokesman Sgt. John Boyle said, “We have no credible threats, though officers are encouraged to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious that they see.”
Like Boston, both London and The Netherlands have recent memories of local terrorism. The Netherlands was shocked by a similar stabbing in Amsterdam a year ago, when two Americans were wounded in a knife attack that prosecutors say had a “terrorist motive.” Friday’s London stabbing erupted two and a half years after a van and knife attack in the same area killed eight people.
— Herald wire services contributed to this report.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/33BYU25
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