British Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after being stabbed multiple times on Friday during a parliamentary office he held at Belfairs Methodist Church in his constituency of Leigh-on-Sea in the east of London, according to police and local media. The 69-year-old has represented the constituency of Southend West in Essex since 1983.
Local police, who did not name the victim, said in a statement that the man who was found injured died at the scene, despite the efforts of emergency services. “A 25-year-old man was quickly arrested after police arrived on the scene on suspicion of murder”, she added, indicating that a knife has been found.
A witness named Anthony described on the radio LBC a large police deployment on the spot. “I saw someone being taken out of the building, put in the back of a police car”, he said. “Apparently he was stabbed several times”, he added about the MP.
One person posted online: ‘David Amess Southend MP stabbed in Belfairs Methodist church Eastwood road literally as… https://t.co/sIMjmN9Rin
Series of attacks on elected officials
Political reactions immediately poured in, in a country marked by the assassination in the middle of the street in 2016 of MEP Jo Cox a week before the Brexit referendum by a neo-Nazi sympathizer. The Jo Cox Foundation has expressed its support for those close to David Amess.
The Jo Cox Foundation says its support for relatives of MP Sir David Amess https://t.co/baBEaZyXmz
“Horrible and deeply shocking news”Labor Opposition Leader Keir Starmer tweeted, addressing his thoughts to the MP, his relatives and collaborators.
In 2010, another Labor MP, Stephen Timms, had been stabbed twice during a visit to his constituency by a student radicalized by online videos. In January 2000 Andy Pennington, assistant to Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones, had been killed while trying to protect Nigel Jones from an attacker who had come to his electoral office, armed with a sword.