Less than a week after the San Bernardino shooting, the ghost of ISIS terrorism has finally landed in London, where moments ago news broke that a man wileding a machete screamed "this is for Syria" before slashing a person's throat at London's Leytonstone subway station, and attacking up to three people.
The following video of the incident was released on Twitter hours ago, and shows a large pool of blood spattered across the ticket hall before the alleged knifeman is Tasered by a Met Police officer.
Part 2 ???? Wats goin on mate pic.twitter.com/dgnlsI1sow [5]
— #UnoMyStyle (@BigTobzsf) December 5, 2015 [6]
The Express released [7]the following pictures of what it has dubbed the "Syria revenge" stabbing:
BREAKING: First pics of #Leytonstone [8] 'Syria revenge' stabbing: https://t.co/4QI4Xjz9W3 [9] pic.twitter.com/X49LCvQCge [10]
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) December 5, 2015 [11]
As the Telegraph reports [12], police were called to Leytonstone station after reports of a stabbing in the ticket hall on Saturday at around 7pm. The alleged assailant was promptly tasered by police at the scene.
Terrified passengers, some with children, can be seen running across the east London Tube station away from the scene.
For the rest of today, no service btn Liverpool St and Woodford / Newbury Park due to a police investigation. Severe delays on rest of line.
— Central line (@centralline) December 5, 2015 [13]
As recounted by the Guardian [14], one person, who claims to have witnessed the attack, took to social media to reveal details of the horror.
Laurynas Godvisa said: “So as I was going to Leytonstone station was dressed to go to Christmas dinner with people from work.
“As I walked down I just saw a lot of people running but I ignored it and kept walking to get my train, but suddenly what I saw I couldn’t believe my eyes and what I saw was a guy with a knife and a dead guy on the floor.
“I was so scared I ran for my life. After good 10-15 police came and got the guy and arrested him.
“And as he was coming out this is what he said: ‘This is what happens when you f*** with mother Syria all of your blood will be spilled’.”
A Met Police spokesman confirmed the incident saying that "Police were called at 19:06hrs on Saturday, 5 December, to reports of a stabbing at Leytonstone underground station. The male suspect was reportedly threatening other people with a knife.
"Met officers attended the scene. A man was arrested at 19:14hrs and taken to an east London police station where he remains in custody. A Taser was discharged by one of the Met officers."
"Officers from British Transport Police are now dealing with the incident at the scene. We are aware of one man having sustained serious stab injuries. We await details of any other injuries."
Horrific scenes at Leytonstone station. 1 confirmed stabbing however rumours are 2 people have been stabbed. pic.twitter.com/xNRawShOxw [15]
— Khayam (@khayamcreates) December 5, 2015 [16]
So far there is little news on the condition of the victim of the attack: one victim is in a serious condition with multiple stab wounds and it is believed up to two others may also have been injured.
A spokeswoman from London Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 7:09pm to reports of an assault at Leytonstone underground station We sent a number of resources to the including our joint response unit, an incident response officer, an ambulance crew and London's Air Ambulance to the scene. We treated a man for stab wounds. He was taken as a priority to hospital escorted by the doctor from London's Air Ambulance."
And while it is only a matter of time before a "terrorist" link is found in this latest attack meant to put another western country on edge and to justify the UK's recent launch of air strikes against ISIS, we wonder if there will be a front page op-ed in a leading liberal UK newspaper tomorrow demanding that all machetes be henceforth banned even as local TV crews stream live from the home of the alleged terrorist.
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Update: as expected, the "terrorist" link was just been revealed with Sky News reporting that the subway incident is already being treated as an act of terrorism:
Update - Metropolitan police confirm Counter Terrorism Command now investigating stabbing incident at Leytonstone underground station
— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) December 5, 2015 [17]
