2 killed in London stabbings - Attacker slain by cops; three injured in Dutch knife attack

LONDON (AP):

A man wearing a fake explosive vest stabbed several people on Friday in London, killing two in what police are treating as a terrorist attack before being tackled by members of the public and then fatally shot by officers on London Bridge, officials said.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cressida Dick said two stabbing victims had died and three injured people were being treated in hospitals. Health officials said one of the injured was in critical but stable condition, one was stable, and the third had less serious injuries.

Dick said police were working “at full tilt” to determine whether anyone else was involved in the attack. She would not say whether the suspect was known to the police, noting it was “a very fast-moving, dynamic investigation”.

The violence erupted two and a half years after a van and knife attack in the same area killed eight people and less than two weeks before Britain holds a national election. The main political parties temporarily suspended campaigning in London as a mark of respect.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “to the best of our knowledge, the incident has been contained”, but that details were still emerging.

Emergency meeting

Johnson’s office said that the prime minister would chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, COBRA, later Friday evening.

Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Neil Basu said the suspect appeared to be wearing a bomb vest but it turned out to be “a hoax explosive device”.

Basu said that the motive of the attack was unclear.

Meanwhile, also Friday night, an assailant stabbed three people in a busy shopping district in the Netherlands, and police were searching for the suspect, authorities said.

A Dutch police spokeswoman said it was still too early to say whether a terror motive was to blame for the attack in The Hague.

It was unclear whether any of the wounds were life-threatening, Marije Kuiper said.

The stabbing happened about 7:45 p.m., when a man attacked several people on the street.

“We are keeping every scenario open,” Kuiper said.

The stabbing happened in an area teeming with holiday shoppers. Supermarket chains and luxury shops were lit up with early Christmas decorations.