One officer was seriously wounded while heroic cops gunned down extremists within eight minutes of first emergency call

THREE terrorists wearing stab-proof vests drove a van into pedestrians at 50mph on London Bridge before attacking revellers with hunting knives.

Seven people have died and at least 48 have been left wounded following the 10:08pm attack. Staff at a packed pub locked the doors as the gang tried to smash their way in. One man was stabbed five times.

Assistant Commissioner of Met Police Mark Rowley confirmed that all three of the depraved attackers were shot and killed within eight minutes of the first call to emergency services.

Confirming the death toll had risen to seven this morning Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick praised the “extraordinary courage” of brave passers-by who stepped in to help those injured following last night’s atrocity.

She said: “Many, many people risked their own safety to help others and treat those seriously injured and to indeed confront the suspects involved.
“It’s clear to me the courage of those people during and following this attack was extraordinary.”

She said the three terrorists shot last night are believed to be the only ones involved in carrying out the attack.

Whitehall officials have told the BBC it is two early to confirm if the attackers were “subjects of interest” known to MI5 or cops.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:

• A van ploughed through pedestrians on London Bridge just after 10pm on Saturday

• Three men wearing fake bomb vests jumped out on the south end of the bridge at Borough Market and began knifing bystanders and pub-goers

• Armed police arrived on the scene and within eight minutes the three terrorists were shot dead

• At least seven victims were killed and 48 people were injured. The injured were being treated across five London hospitals. One of the injured was a British Transport Police officer who was stabbed in the face

• Theresa May will chair a Cobra emergency response meeting later after the attack was confirmed to be a terror incident

• Four controlled explosions were heard near The Sun’s offices in London Bridge between 1:20am and 1:50am

• Police appealed for witnesses to send images and videos to help identify the attackers and piece together the chaos

• The Met Police opened a casualty bureau for those concerned about family and friends who might have been caught up in the attacks. There are two numbers to call: 0800 096 1233 and 020 7158 0197

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  A picture taken outside the Wheatsheaf pub in Borough Market shows the three terrorists lying dead- after being gunned down by cops.

  One of the twisted attackers was pictured wearing an Arsenal football strip from the 2011/12 season.

  Four explosions – confirmed as controlled blasts by the police – were heard outside The Sun offices near London Bridge between 1:23am and 1:49am.

  Witness Erick Siguenza told BBC News that one of the gang screamed “This is for Allah” as he went on his stabbing rampage.

  The gang had metal canisters strapped to their chests which police chief Rowley confirmed were hoax suicide vests.

  Rowley confirmed that one officer was stabbed and seriously wounded by the extremists but his injuries are not life threatening.

  It has since been confirmed that the British Transport police officer was stabbed in the face.

  Met police have confirmed that the attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market were “terror incidents”.

  The London Ambulance Service has confirmed that 48 people have been taken to hospital after suffering injuries.

  One bystander is believed to have been shot in the head by crossfire.

  The Metropolitan Police confirmed another incident in the Vauxhall area was an unrelated stabbing.

  Prime Minister Theresa May has said the “terrible incident” is being treated as a  “potential act of terrorism”.

  Paul Clarke filmed the reported stabbing in a restaurant before police officers confiscated his phone for evidence.

  Paul said he heard gunfire unleashed in the restaurant and a man believed to be a chef was injured.

  He said: “I saw three people coming in.

  “I don’t know what he had in his hand, it looked like a big long weapon.

  “There was a man, one of the kitchen staff, on the floor, and the man was doing a stabbing motion.

  “I just thought, we’ve got to get out of here.”

  He said he and his friends then ran from the scene.

  Alex Shellum, a witness at Mudlark pub under London Bridge, described a horrifying attack in which a woman had her throat slit.

  He said: “At around 10pm an injured woman came into the pub seeking assistance.

  “She was bleeding heavily from the neck – it appeared that her throat had been cut.

  “People sought to stem the bleeding and the pub was closed.”

  Eye witnesses confirmed that several bodies were “strewn on the ground” and people were receiving CPR after being randomly stabbed by the sick extremists.

  A bomb squad and a police helicopter arrived on the scene shortly after the attack.

  The walking wounded were being taken by bus to Liverpool Street station, reports the BBC.

  A Sun journalist at the scene in London Bridge tweeted that he saw one man being led away by police in cuffs.

  A cab driver told The Sun that he was stuck at traffic lights when he saw a transit van smash into London Bridge.

  He heard gunshots and said a police officer was hurt.

  A 40-year-old witness told The Sun: “I was in the Wheatsheaf pub. The doors were locked by the bar staff. Three men with big hunting knives were outside.

  “They were trying to get in the pub but the doors were locked. They were smashing the windows.

  “I saw at least one man stabbed in the chest about five times.

  “Armed police turned up, I saw them shoot at least two of the guys in front of me.

  “They had four to five silver canisters attached to themselves and police just opened fire.

  “They fired at least 20 times. One of the guys in the pub took a bullet in the head. I think he’s dead.”

  Another casualty is believed to have jumped from London Bridge into the Thames, a witness told CNN.

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  Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS

  Casualties were seen being taken away from Tito’s restaurant on London Bridge Street with blood on the steps of the eatery.

  In horrifying footage taken from the scene, police can be heard shouting “clear the area, now” while screaming people can be seen running in fear for their lives.

  Jag Sandue was at the Black and Blue steak restaurant when he said he saw several men storm in, armed with knives.

  He said a man was cut down behind him, with blood spraying onto Jag’s shirt.

  He told The Sun Online: “There were people throwing chairs and glasses outside and I thought it might just be a fight.

  “Then I realised it was more than that, people were running.

  “Next thing we know, they’re in our restaurant. People were screaming ‘they’ve got knives’.”

  He said a man behind him was cut by one of the suspects in the chaos, with people running to the back of the restaurant.

  Wendy Clarke, who was also at the Black and Blue steak restaurant, said: “I saw a bottle flying.

  “I said ‘oh my god, what’s going on there?’

  “And they (friends) got up and the next thing was just pandemonium.

  “Everyone was running into the restaurant and the next thing they were shouting was ‘move, move, get out the way’.

  “We got under tables.”

  She said her son shouted for her help, with the teen claiming he saw one of the men wearing a suicide vest.

  Wendy said: “As we were running out the restaurant, we saw blood. Blood was everywhere.”

  One terrified woman said she was at a restaurant when police swarmed on the area.

  She said police were firing weapons: “We had to run. There was loads of shooting.”

  Officers were seen dragging startled diners and revellers out of restaurants and bars and telling them to run.

  A witness named Martin said: “There’s been about eight of them stabbed. I ran up to see if they were all right but people were already with them. I was bloody terrified

  “I thought is that real? If we had of been on the other side of the road, it could have been us.”

  A number of trains stations were closed in the capital including London Bridge, Waterloo East, London Charing Cross and London Cannon Street.

  A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister is in contact with officials and is being regularly updated on the incident at London Bridge.”

  An eye-witness who was standing with his wife at the entrance of London Bridge underground station described the attacker and how he “coldly” attacked a man.

  He said: “We saw people running away and then I saw a man with quite a large blade, at least 10-inches, stabbing a man three times.

  “He was stabbing him quite coldly, and then the victim slumped to the ground.”

  Describing the attacker, he added: “I think he was black, dark-skinned, red tracksuit on, with a red hoodie.

  “He walked quite boldly along with another guy in the direction of the Southwark Tavern pub.

  “Glass bottles and tables were thrown at them, and then we heard gunshots.”

  One sobbing woman said: “We were drinking in the Hawksmoor when all of a sudden a group of police ran out screaming at us to get down on the ground.

  “We heard there had been an incident but we had no idea what was going on, it was so frightening.”

  Some bystanders who were trapped inside the police cordon slept in the lobby of London Bridge Hotel and were seen being allowed out in groups of six this morning.

  The US State Department released a statement condemning the terror attack.

  The statement read: “The United States condemns the cowardly attacks targeting innocent civilians in London this evening.

  “We understand UK police are currently treating these as terrorist incidents. The United States stands ready to provide any assistance authorities in the United Kingdom may request.

  “Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of the victims. We wish a full and quick recovery to those injured in the attacks. All Americans stand in solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom.”

  Earlier, President Donald Trump tweeted: “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!”

  The Republican later phoned PM May and offered his condolences while praising the work of London’s emergency services.

  Authorities have confirmed that Londoners can expect heightened security – including armed police – in the city following the attack.

  Police officers escorted 11 people from London Bridge station nearly nine hours after the atrocity.

  Shaken witnesses were taken from the side entrance of the station just before 7am wearing foil jackets.

  The group, who looked pale and tired, didn’t want to speak as they were flanked by officers and led away from the scene of the horror.

  One witness who spent eight hours on the floor of London Bridge station said that they were trapped in a “nightmare situation”.

  The woman, who didn’t want to be named, said: “A group of us were staying in the London Bridge hotel and we were having a drink next door when police stormed in and told us we had to be evacuated.

  “They led us into the station and we had to spend the night on the tube floor not really knowing what was happening which was terrifying.

  “We could’ve been staying in the nice hotel but were instead on the floor of the station but at least we were safe.

  “It was a nightmare situation and I’m horrified about what has happened.”

  Speaking on Sunday morning, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “I’ve been the mayor for 13 months. We have the best police and security services in the world, we saw that with their swift response last night. “People should remain calm and vigilant.

  “These terrorists want to disrupt our way of life; mixing and mingling on a Saturday night; voting on Thursday. We can’t let them do that.”

  Khan also said he supports the UK General Election going ahead as planned on June 8.

  Armed police with a sniffer dog were seen this morning at London Bridge station.

  Around a dozen officers carrying guns stormed up an escalator towards the train station just an hour after witnesses who spent the night on the tube station floor were allowed to leave.

  The latest terror assault came 12 days after the Manchester suicide bombing which killed 22 people – including children – at a pop concert.

  

  Former intelligence chief Richard Kemp reveals what’s in store for UK after London Bridge carnage

  FROM looking at what’s going on it looks likely the government wouldn’t have had intelligence.

  The reality is that even an attack which involves knives is hard for the government to get information about, because it doesn’t require much preparation.

  There is obviously a direct link to previous ISIS attacks that have been carried out, either at the direction of ISIS or being inspired by ISIS but also, the timing of these attacks is related to two things – one is Ramadan.

  During Ramadan we always expect to see a higher level of violence from ISIS and we’ve seen that around the world, and now in London.

  The other thing is the election; carrying out an attack during an election period gives ISIS fighters credit.

  It’s very likely the people involved will have been known and the way to deal with it therefore is to get rid of similar people before they carry attacks like these out in future.

  We can do that by deporting people who are not British citizens and who are known to be terrorists, by detaining those who are and by excluding those who are ISIS fighters returning from Iraq and Syria.

  I’m not confident the government will do this.

  I don’t know if any politician in the UK will do that – they will in due course, because if they don’t these attacks will continue and they’ll have to.

  But for right now, the most likely thing is we’ll see the threat level increase, more armed troops and police as an immediate measure.

  I doubt it would have made any difference if the national threat level had remained at critical.

  That being said, the elements of it being critical which included military forces and additional police should be reverted because it allows for quicker reactions.

  We need to consider that this level of threat is going to continue for some time.

  We should be convicting people involved in radicalisation. It’s time to take the gloves off and hit very, very hard now.

  We need to detain, export and exclude terrorists.

  We also need to have every cop in this country armed, which gives us a greater chance of having an immediate response.

  There was very quick response here, but that’s due to proximity to the scene, which unfortunately doesn’t apply everywhere.