Four people have died and at least 20 others have been injured after a terror attack in Westminster.
A police officer who was stabbed at the Houses of Parliament and his attacker, said by witnesses to be an Asian man in his 40s, are among the dead, according to Metropolitan Police Acting Deputy Commissioner and Head of Counter Terrorism Mark Rowley.
He said: ‘Sadly I can confirm that now four people have died and that included the police officer who was protecting Parliament and one man we believe to be the attacker who was shot by a police firearms officer.
‘The officer’s family have been made aware. At least 20 people have been injured.’
The attacker, armed with two large knives, mowed down pedestrians with his car on Westminster Bridge, including schoolchildren, then rushed at the gates in front of the Houses of Parliament, stabbing a policeman before he was shot by armed officers.
She added that ‘the forces of evil’ would never be allowed ‘to drive us apart’.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of terror when gunfire rang out as the attacker approached a second officer within yards of the Houses of Parliament.
Paramedics fought to save his life and that of his police victim on the floor of the cobbled courtyard in front of Parliament, with Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood among those who rushed to help.
The police officer was wheeled away on a stretcher with his face covered and sources later confirmed he had died.
One eyewitness claimed the officer was stabbed in the neck twice before falling to the floor.
The vehicle was later identified as a 28k-year old Hyundai registered to an affluent area of Essex.
