A convicted terrorist was shot dead by armed police after stabbing two people on a London high street.
The Metropolitan Police said they were treating the incident in Streatham at 2pm on Sunday as an Islamist-related attack.
Officers named the suspect as Sudesh Amman, 20, who had been released from prison days earlier.
A man in his 40s remains in hospital but is no longer in a life-threatening condition. A woman in her 50s was discharged following treatment.
Police said a third victim suffered minor injuries, believed to be caused by flying glass during the shooting of the suspect.
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This is The Independent's live coverage of what police are calling a terror-related attack in London.
Attack was 'terrorist-related', Metropolitan Police say
The Independent's Michael Owens is at the scene in Streatham. He says a long stretch of the high street is cordoned off. Traffic is being diverted and passengers have reportedly been forced off buses.
One witness, named Alicia, told him: "I was in a cafe when seven to eight police cars came past in the space of a couple of minutes. Ambulances arrived a couple of minutes later and I saw an air ambulance and the police helicopter go overhead.
"Then, when I left the cafe, police had cordoned off a long stretch of the road. There were armed police officers manning the cordon passengers were being forced off buses. Everyone was saying someone had been shot by police near Boots."
Images of the man shot by police appear to show him wearing what looks like a suicide bomb vest.
The London Bridge attackers in 2017 and 2019 were found to be wearing fake bomb vests.
Purported witness claims to have seen man with machete and silver canisters on his chest being chased by plainclothes police
A 19-year-old student from Streatham, claimed to have witnessed the shooting.
"I was crossing the road when I saw a man with a machete and silver canisters on his chest being chased by what I assume was an undercover police officer - as they were in civilian clothing," he told the PA news agency.
"The man was then shot. I think I heard three gun shots but I can't quite remember. After that I ran into the library to get to safety. From the library I saw a load of ambulances and armed police officers arrive on the scene."
Alleged attacker pronounced dead
'A number of patients' being treated after incident
The exact number of people injured in the incident is not yet known, with emergency services saying "a number of" people are being treated at the scene.
“We are working closely with the other emergency services and are treating a number of patients at the scene,” London Ambulance Service strategic commander Graham Norton.
The Metropolitan Police said they believed two people had been injured.
"We saw a guy with a huge knife, we heard the shouting, and saw police chase him down the street – and the police were telling him to put the machete or the big knife, to put it down, and then they shot him. He didn’t put it down," Timothy Hudson, a local resident coming from a church in Brixton told The Independent.
"When we drove up the street we saw a body on the ground, we presumed he had stabbed."
The mayor of London has issued a statement thanking the emergency services, saying: "They truly are the best of us."
"Terrorists seek to divide us and destroy our way of life – here in London we will never let them succeed," Sadiq Khan said.
The prime minister also thanked those in the emergency services dealing with the incident and said his thoughts were with all those affected.
'I could see blood on the floor everywhere'
"I was walking out the chicken shop and heard gunshots, I could see blood on the floor everywhere," Malik, a barber who works on Streatham High Road, told The Independent.
"There's a lady outside of a pharmacy who had been stabbed in the back with a knife, everyone was helping her, a man came out the car.
"I could see a man coming out of a blue car. This man's driving it, there are women in the car who are crying. He gets out, he's injured and bleeding.
"Everyone was helping the man, then the police turned up and told everyone to move back and move away."
This is from Streatham's MP.
The home secretary says she is receiving updates from the Met.
Richard Mustonen-Smith, 59, a response pastor for Ascension Trust, has lived in the area all his life.
"I'm shocked it's happened in Streatham. I've been here all my life. We're always getting accidents down here but not this," Mr Mustonen-Smith told the Press Association.
"My grandson was in the Odeon and they got told to go out the back because there was a bomb. They got them to go out of the back of the cinema. They were there to watch a film.
"When it's a member of your family so close to you, you don't expect it. You're always worried about your family being on the streets but this is even worse.
"I heard two people got stabbed and apparently one man was shouting Allahu Akbar but people thought he was just a crazy man, so he got away. Apparently he had two rucksacks."
Police urge 'common sense and restraint' in circulation of footage and images
There is no indication yet of what may have motivated the stabbings.
Sky News cited security sources as saying the incident was related to Islamist militancy, but the Metropolitan Police would not comment on the validity of this suggestion.
Images suggest the attacker was wearing a device that looked like an explosive vest. Fake vests have been worn in previous terror attacks in the capital.
The Independent's home affairs and security correspondent Lizzie Dearden has provided some background information on Islamist terror attacks:
"Low-technology attacks involving knives and cars have been encouraged by Isis as a means of sowing terror worldwide.
"In 2014 a speech by the group's spokesperson called for indiscriminate attacks on all non-Muslims, particularly in countries including Britain that were bombing the group's territories in Syria and Iraq.
"Fake suicide vests have been worn in attacks including London Bridge, HMP Whitemoor and Fishmongers' Hall,and can be a means to prevent intervention and ensure jihadis are shot dead by police."
The Independent's home affairs and security correspondent Lizzie Dearden has more context on the incident:
The Streatham stabbing is the third terror attack to hit UK since security services lowered the national threat from severe to substantial in November, meaning attacks were deemed "likely" rather than "highly likely".
The first was the stabbing that left two dead at Fishmongers' Hall on 30 November, and the second by inmates at HMP Whitemoor last month. The perpetrators of those attacks were known extremists who had been jailed for terror offences.
British security services have foiled 24 attack plots – 16 Islamist and eight far-right – since March 2017.
In November – shortly before the knife attack at Fishmongers' Hall – the UK terror threat level was lowered from severe to substantial, meaning further attacks were likely.
That month the head of UK counterterror police said his officers were running 800 live investigations. Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu added: "It's not the volume of the threat, it's the unpredictability and the lack of intelligence that creates the real pressure.
"Targets are softer, methodology simple and cheap and the perpetrators are either lone actors or more proficient in encryption. The attacks and the planning may be less frequent but they are harder to see and stop."
Here is another eyewitness from the scene of the attack.
Nardos Mulugeta, a 52-year-old mechanical engineer who lives in Streatham, told PA he heard gunshots before seeing one victim lying in the street.
“I heard a shot and then there was a 20-second gap. Then there were three or four shots together,” he said.
“I went over and I saw the first victim, a male victim on the ground, near the White Lion Pub, and people were helping him.
“Then five minutes later a woman came over and said I've been stabbed too in the back. And then people starting helping her.
“I saw one body laying down further away. He was face-down between Argos and Iceland. It's really scary.”
The Metropolitan Police has urged the public to follow its Twitter feed for updates on the attack in Streatham.
Police have already warned against sharing unconfirmed pictures and video from the incident on social media.
Police are continuing to guard the scene of the attack as residents gather at the junction of Streatham High Road and Prentis Road, according to PA.
A forensics team is examining the area for clues near Superdrug and Boots stores.
PA has reported that families could be heard asking police how they would be able to access their homes after the incident shut down the road.
London Ambulance Service has released an updated statement on the attack, confirming that three people have been treated for injuries at the scene.
The Met Police has said one victim from the attack is in hospital in a life-threatening condition.
A second person was treated for minor injuries at the scene, while a third victim was taken to hospital but is not in a life-threatening condition.
