Jack Taylor/Getty Images(LONDON) — The man police believe is responsible for Wednesday’s terrorist attack at London’s Westminster Bridge has been identified as U.K. native Khalid Masood.
Police said Masood, 52, was known to authorities and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and public order offenses. His most recent conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife, according to the Metropolitan Police Service.
Masood was born in Kent in southeast England and detectives believe he was most recently residing in the West Midlands in western-central England. He was also known by a number of aliases, according to the Metropolitan Police Service in London.
Masood has not been convicted of any terrorism offenses, police noted.
Police said Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence regarding his intent to launch a terrorist attack.
Earlier Thursday, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May addressed members of Parliament, speaking solemnly about the “act of terrorism that tried to silence our democracy.”
“But today we meet as normal — as generations have done before us, and as future generations will continue to do — to deliver a simple message: We are not afraid,” she said at Britain’s House of Commons. “And our resolve will never waiver in the face of terrorism.”
May discussed what intelligence and security officials had so far gleaned about the attack, noting that the assailant was born in the United Kingdom and had been on the radar of security services.
He allegedly killed three people, including a police officer, and injured at least 29 others who were hospitalized in an attack that authorities have declared a terrorist incident. A man believed to be the attacker was shot dead by police at the scene, according to London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
Police officials say they believe Wednesday’s attack was “inspired by international terrorism” and that they know the attacker’s identity but have so far refused to provide further details. Authorities are also looking at the suspect’s possible associates.
In a statement published Thursday by its media outlet, Amaq News Agency, ISIS called the attacker “a soldier of the Islamic State” and said he “carried out the operation in response to calls to target citizens of the international coalition.”
Eight people were arrested after overnight raids at six locations, including in Birmingham and London, Metropolitan Police acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said this morning.
Wednesday’s attack began around 2:40 p.m. local time, when a car struck pedestrians and three police officers on Westminster Bridge. The car then crashed into the fence around the Houses of Parliament, and a man armed with a knife attacked an officer who was standing guard, according to police.
The suspect, who authorities believe acted alone, was shot and killed by police. In an initial news conference Wednesday night, Rowley said the suspect tried to enter Parliament but was stopped “very close to the gate.”
The officer who died, identified as 48-year-old Keith Palmer, was not armed. Palmer, a husband and father, had served for 15 years with the Metropolitan Police Service, Rowley added.
The attack, which occurred on the one-year anniversary of attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds, was reminiscent of vehicle attacks last year in both Berlin and Nice, France.
A spokesperson for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, an American car rental company headquartered in Missouri, confirmed to ABC News that the vehicle used in Wednesday’s attack in London was rented from one of its branches in Birmingham, England. The spokesperson refused to provide additional details about the individual who rented the car, when it was rented and how it was paid for.
“We can confirm that the car used in the tragic attack in London yesterday afternoon was one of ours. An employee identified the vehicle after seeing the license plate in an image online. We ran another check to verify, and immediately contacted the authorities,” the spokesperson in a statement Thursday. “We are cooperating fully with the authorities and will provide any assistance that we can to the investigation.”
Eyewitnesses described to ABC News what they saw as the attack unfolded. One witness, Richard Tice, said he saw injured people lying on the pavement on Westminster Bridge. The car involved in the attack appeared to have jumped the curb, knocking people over, he added.
Bradford and Joanne Buck, a U.S. couple visiting London from Connecticut, said they witnessed the crashing into the fence surrounding the Houses of Parliament. They didn’t know what was happening but saw police armed with machine guns run to the scene.
“Just couldn’t believe it was happening,” Joanne Buck said in an interview Thursday morning on ABC News’ Good Morning America.
“Just saw the machine guns and knew we had to take cover quickly.”
Despite the deadly attack and heavy police presence, the couple said Londoners appear resilient and are going about their day.
“The people are great; they’re going about their business. There’s a lot of police officers with machine guns walking around, which we hadn’t seen before this happened. But the mood of the people is great,” Bradford Buck told GMA, adding that they too will carry on with their visit.
“We’re going to carry on with our vacation,” he said. “We’re not going to let it stop us and hope to finish our sightseeing while we are here in London.”
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