Brit MP Dies After She's Shot, Stabbed in Street Attack

Jo Cox was assaulted in Leeds
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 16, 2016 10:33 AM CDT
Updated Jun 16, 2016 11:28 AM CDT
Brit MP Shot, Stabbed in Street Attack
Labour MP Jo Cox in 2015.   (Yui Mok/PA via AP, File)

A British Labour MP has died after being shot and stabbed in an apparently targeted attack on Thursday, reports the BBC. Jo Cox—who was airlifted to a Leeds hospital, per the Yorkshire Post—was leaving a drop-in session for constituents at a library in Birstall around 1pm when a man wearing a baseball cap attacked her with a "foot-long knife," per the Telegraph. A middle-aged man, who suffered minor injuries, apparently tried to subdue the attacker before he "suddenly pulled a gun from his bag," a witness tells the Guardian. Cox, a 41-year-old mother of two young daughters, was shot three times, including once near the head, says a witness. The shooter then left the scene "very coolly, very slowly" on foot, per Sky News. A 52-year-old man was arrested soon after.

Police say they are investigating unconfirmed reports that the shooter yelled, "Britain First!" at least once during the attack—a possible reference to the right-wing party. In a statement, however, the group says it wasn't involved and "would never encourage behavior of this sort." The Guardian notes that Cox, a former Oxfam aid worker and advocate for Syrian refugees, was in the "Remain" camp of the Brexit vote on whether the UK should leave the European Union, which has divided many. After news of the shooting spread, MPs suspended their referendum campaigning and offered condolences. (More United Kingdom stories.)

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