A 14-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 [14]-year-old boy, died” after being taken to hospital, a local police official reported , Stuart Bell, in a statement to the press. Police previously said the boy was 13 years old. Mr. Bell also said 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 custody,” according to police. “He was hit by an electric pulse gun (…) and arrested twenty-two minutes after” 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” of the 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 on X, adding that “such violence has no place on our streets.” The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was “absolutely devastated” by the attack.
“Following the horrific scenes in Hainault this morning,” King Charles III’s “thoughts and prayers” “are with all those who have been affected, particularly the family of the deceased young victim,” a Buckingham spokesperson said palace.
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 that the increase in knife crimes in London “highlighted the reality of the Labor Party” when it is in charge. 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 election. There is a family who lost a child and I think we should focus on that,” Sadiq Khan responded on Tuesday, when asked on Sky News about the impact of this attack two days before the vote.
