Hainault: Boy, 14, killed in sword attack
A 14-year-old boy has passed away following an incident where an assailant armed with a sword went on a rampage in north-east London.
At approximately 07:00 BST, authorities responded to reports of a car colliding with a residence and individuals being attacked in Hainault.
The adolescent was transported to a medical facility where he succumbed to his injuries.
Before being subdued in a front garden after traversing through residents’ yards, the assailant, aged 36, had injured four others, including two law enforcement officers, utilizing a sword.
The suspect, subsequently arrested, sustained injuries from the car collision and is currently receiving medical care.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe stated that investigations have not uncovered any prior interactions between the perpetrator and the police.
Video footage circulating on social media depicted an individual brandishing a lengthy knife in Laing Close.
Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell acknowledged the public’s understandable desire for clarity regarding the incident and assured that authorities are diligently working to ascertain all details.
Chief Superintendent Bell disclosed that the two Metropolitan Police officers sustained injuries necessitating surgical intervention.
While the officers’ stab wounds were described as “significant,” they were fortunately not life-threatening.
The injuries sustained by the other two civilians are also assessed to be non-life-threatening.
Chief Superintendent Bell emphasized that the incident is not believed to be linked to terrorism and does not appear to have been a targeted assault.
Police said a vehicle was driven into a house in the Thurlow Gardens area and footage shared on social media showed a man with a long knife in Laing Close
Witness James Fernando said he saw the suspect ask one of his neighbors to take his phone and “tell whoever was on the phone his location”.
The 39-year-old said the neighbor soon noticed the sword and started running.
As she fled, the woman shouted to another neighbor, a boy on his way to school, who was then struck by the attacker as he turned around, he said.
Another eyewitness, Chris Bates, who lives in Thurlow Gardens, said he saw the suspect run through the area.
“He ran through the gardens and came out onto the street by the house next door to me,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“The police were there. He then ran down to two doors and tried to get on the sort of scaffold, and they Tasered him and took him down.”
Manpreet Singh, who also witnessed the attack, told BBC Radio 5 Live he had walked out of an office when he “heard chaos” on the other side of the road.
“I saw a group of people, five or six of them, trying to fight off a guy – he had a sword in his hand,” he said.
“There was about seven or eight police cars entering that road and, after another 10 minutes, I saw the guy running towards the station and entered the road opposite the station.
“He tried to get into one of the houses but couldn’t get into it and that’s when they Tasered him.”
Hainault London Underground station was closed during the incident and local buses were diverted.
PA Media An aerial view of a police cordon at the scene Media
A police cordon is in place at the scene
Ch Supt Bell said the boy’s family was being supported by specialist officers at this “unimaginably difficult time”.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “I’m sure I speak for the entire city when I say our thoughts are with this young child and his family.”
He said additional uniformed officers would be in the area over the coming days and asked residents in Hainault to pass on any footage recorded on phones or doorbell cameras to the police.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the incident as “shocking”, adding: “Such violence has no place on our streets.”
Wes Streeting, the MP for Ilford North, said the community would be “devastated by the heartbreaking news”.
Thanking the emergency services for their “courageous response”, he described the officers who had put themselves in harm’s way to protect others as “the best of us”.
Rick Prior, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the attack was a “sad reminder” of the dangers officers faced to keep Londoners safe.
“It’s often forgotten by people who attack our profession and the difficult and dynamic decisions which officers are confronted with on an hourly basis, that we work with heroes whose courage is incredible,” he said.
