Man Wearing Fake Bomb Stabs 2, Is Shot Dead

Police say he was wearing a fake bomb
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 2, 2020 12:20 PM CST
Cops Shoot Stabbing Suspect in London
Police forensic officers work near the scene of a stabbing incident in Streatham High Road, London, Sunday Feb. 2, 2020.   (Kirsty O'Connor/PA via AP)

A man recently released from prison after serving time for terrorism-related offenses strapped on a fake bomb and stabbed two people on a busy London street Sunday before being shot to death by police, officials said, the AP reports. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D'Orsi said police are "confident" the attacker was 20-year-old Sudesh Amman. He had been convicted for publishing graphic terrorist videos online and had stockpiled instructions on bomb making and knife attacks, according to police. It seems likely the victims will survive Sunday’s attack in the bustling commercial and residential south London neighborhood of Streatham, where Amman struck outside a major pharmacy on a busy shopping afternoon.

D'Orsi said a stabbing victim in his 40s thought to be in life-threatening condition has improved. She said the victim is no longer in danger and that a woman who had been hospitalized has been released. One other female victim is still in the hospital with lesser injuries police believe were caused by flying glass after the attacker was shot dead. D'Orsi said the incident started at 2pm when Amman was already being trailed by police. She said police saw a device strapped to the attacker’s body and called in specialist officers who quickly determined the purported explosive device was a hoax. Officials praised the police action but questions are likely to be raised about why the officers trailing Amman could not prevent his attack.
(More terrorism stories.)

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