A 13-year-old boy was killed and four other people injured on Tuesday April 30 in east London by a man armed with a sword. The latter was quickly arrested by the police, who ruled out a terrorist act at this stage. This event comes against a backdrop of an increase in stabbing attacks in the United Kingdom.
“It is with great sadness that I can confirm that one of those injured in the attack, a 13-year-old boy, has died” after his transport to hospital, announced a local police official, Stuart Bell, in a statement to the press. He also specified that the four injured people, including two police officers, had been hospitalized, but that “their lives did not appear to be in danger”. Two of them are still in hospital, he added.
Police were called shortly before 8 a.m. (Paris time) to this area of northeast London near Hainault tube station.
A 36-year-old man armed with a sword was arrested shortly after “and is currently in detention”according to police. “He was hit by an electric pulse gun (…) and arrested twenty-two minutes later” the first call to the police. The investigation is in its early stages, but authorities are not looking for any other suspects, Mr. Bell said, paying tribute to the “incredible courage” police and emergency services.
Images posted on social media and picked up by British media show a slightly bearded white man, dressed in black pants and a yellow hoodie, sword in hand, walking erratically in front of houses.
14,577 stabbing attacks in London
Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak denounced a “shocking incident”. “My thoughts are with those affected and their families”, he wrote onadding that“Such violence has no place in our streets”. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said to himself “absolutely devastated” by this attack.
Stabbing attacks are on the rise in the United Kingdom, where mobilization is increasing to ask the government to act. According to official figures, they increased by 7% in 2023, almost 50,000, in England and Wales. In London, they skyrocketed by 20% with 14,577 attacks recorded, returning more or less to their level before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The subject is an angle of attack for the Conservatives against the Mayor of London, currently campaigning for a third term. On Monday, Rishi Sunak said the increase in stabbing crimes in London “highlighted the reality of the Labor Party” when he is responsible. The government promised last year to ban certain types of knives or machetes, without realizing its ambition for the moment.
“It’s not about the elections. There’s a family that lost a child and I think we should focus on that.”replied Sadiq Khan on Tuesday, asked on Sky News about the impact of this attack two days before the vote.