Usman Khan (28) was the prime suspect in the stabbing incident on London Bridge last Friday (Nov 29).
A man and a woman were killed and three others injured in Friday’s terror incident. The victims’ identities have not yet been released by officials as of posting.
Police shot and killed Khan after a confrontation. Members of the public bravely intervened in the attack to disarm Khan.
He was found to be wearing a fake suicide bomb vest when he was shot.
Police stated that Khan attended an event at Fishmonger’s Hall. The event scheduled from 11AM to 4PM was a celebration of the anniversary of Learning Together Group affiliated with the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology.
Participants in the event at Fishmonger Hall included academics, students, and criminal justice organizations.
Khan began his attack in the Hall before he went outside to London Bridge where crowds of people panicked and ran away. The attack lasted five minutes according to police reports.
London bridge stabbing more videos#LondonBridge pic.twitter.com/sv2V5a4LA9
— London & UK Street News (@CrimeLdn) November 29, 2019
“Clearly, a key line of enquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this attack,” Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, Neil Basu said as quoted in a report by The Guardian.
Khan was identified as an Islamist extremist previously convicted for an al-Qaeda-inspired bomb plot in 2010.
He was released in Dec 2018 after serving eight years of his 16-year sentence.
Khan and eight others planned to bomb the London Stock Exchange and build a terrorist training camp in Pakistan before they were arrested by London police and MI5.
Khan was also reportedly a follower of the extremist terror group al-Muhijaroun.
He was of Pakistani descent and resided in the Staffordshire area northwest of London.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that he believed it was a “mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early” and that it is necessary to “enforce the appropriate sentences for dangerous criminals, especially for terrorists, that I think the public will want to see.”/TISG