An elite SAS unit, nick-named Blue Thunder, is believed to have been dispatched for the first-time in response to last night's terror attack in London.
Armed police officers shot and killed three suspected terrorists within eight minutes of receiving the call. However, during the chaos, it was believed one suspect had escaped.
The unit was sent out to mobilise Special Forces agents, at the scene, to help track down the 'missing terrorist'.
An unmarked helicopter was photographed landing on London Bridge last night. Credit: PA
'Blue Thunder', which gets its name from the unmarked helicopters used to fly troops around the country, takes orders directly from the Home Secretary and is a team of 70 special agents. It was formed after the terror attack in Paris in 2015 and has undergone rigorous training in how to tackle terror scenarios.
According to the Daily Mail, last night is the first time the unit has ever been used in Britain, but the Home Office have refused to comment.
Photographs appeared to show two helicopters landing on London Bridge shortly after the attacks.
The type of helicopter snapped is the same as those used to transport Special Forces around the country quickly.
Armed police out in force in London today. Credit: PA
Calls were made to the Metropolitan Police at 10.08pm, when a white van was reported to have ploughed into people on London Bridge, before driving off and crashing into a pub.
The suspects then jumped out of the van and began a horrific knife attack on people who were out enjoying their Saturday night.
At 10.16pm, armed police arrived at the scene, where officers opened fire on the suspects, killing them.
Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick announced earlier today that no suspects were still at large.
Credit: PA
The bravery of the police officers has been praised by both the public and officials.
Prime Minister Theresa May spoke of the 'great courage and great speed' of officers when dealing with the incident.
Seven people were killed in the attacks and at least 48 were taken into hospitals around London.
Featured Image Credit: PA
President Donald Trump said Sunday he will do whatever is necessary to protect the United States from a "vile enemy" that he says has waged war on innocents for too long, vowing: "This bloodshed must end, this bloodshed will end."
Trump commented on the vehicle and knife attack that killed at least seven people in London at the conclusion of a fundraiser for Ford's Theater, scene of one of the most famous acts of bloodshed in American history: the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
"America sends our thoughts and prayers and our deepest sympathies to the victims of this evil slaughter and we renew our resolve, stronger than ever before, to protect the United States and its allies from a vile enemy that ha swaged war on innocent life, and it's gone on too long," Trump said in his first public comments on the attack late Saturday in a busy section of London. He previously had commented via a series of Twitter posts.
"This bloodshed must end, this bloodshed will end," said the tuxedo-clad Trump, standing on stage with his wife, first lady Melania Trump.
"As president, I will do what is necessary to prevent this threat from spreading to our shores and work every single day to protect the safety and security of our country, our communities and our people," he said.
Trump said he had spoken with British Prime Minister Theresa May to express America's "unwavering support" and offer U.S. assistance as the British government works to protect its citizens and bring the guilty to justice.
Earlier Sunday, Trump had criticized London's mayor after he sought to reassure residents about a stepped-up police presence following the attack, the third in the country in past three months, arguing on Twitter for leaders to "stop being politically correct" and focus on "security for our people."
The mayor's spokesman said he was too busy to respond to Trump's "ill-informed" tweet.
In a series of tweets that began late Saturday, Trump also pushed his stalled travel ban, mocked gun control supporters and pledged that the United States will be there to help London and the United Kingdom.
Trump challenged London Mayor Sadiq Khan for saying there was "no reason to be alarmed." Khan spoke those words in a television interview Sunday in the context of reassuring Londoners about an increased police presence they might see.
"No reason to be alarmed," Khan said, describing a more visible presence as "one of things the police and all of us need to do to make sure we are as safe as we possibly can be."
Trump wasn't satisfied and responded Sunday with a trio of tweets:
"We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse."
"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'"
Trump ended with: "Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!"
Khan's office dismissed the tweet, saying the mayor "is busy working with the police, emergency services and the government to coordinate the response to this horrific and cowardly terrorist attack and provide leadership and reassurance to Londoners and visitors to our city. He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump's ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police — including armed officers — on the streets."
Trump's first comment after the attack came late Saturday on Twitter. He promoted a proposed travel ban on visitors from six mostly Muslim countries and refugees from around the world that has been blocked by U.S. courts.
The Trump administration last week formally asked the Supreme Court, the highest court in the U.S., to allow the ban to take effect, arguing that restricting immigration by refugees and visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen is necessary to protect U.S. national security. A date for the court to hear arguments in the case was not immediately set.
"We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!" Trump tweeted Saturday after the attack.
U.S. lawmakers from both political parties criticized Trump for raising the travel ban and assailing Khan.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said he was concerned about Trump's call for a travel ban "even though the courts have continued to turn that down."
Warner said Trump has had more than 90 days to review the procedures for admitting people from certain countries.
"If there's new procedures put in place, put those procedures in place. Don't continue to call for this travel ban, which is frankly all of the leaders in the intelligence community have said would be in effect, a slap in the face to Muslim Americans and others, and in many ways, might actually incite more incidents," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican member of the Senate intelligence panel, said the ban was "too broad" but agreed with Trump that better immigration procedures are needed.
Former vice president and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore said on CNN's "State of the Union: "I don't think that a major terrorist attack like this is the time to be divisive and to criticize a mayor who's trying to organize his city's response to this attack."
President Donald Trump on Sunday called for an end to political correctness, suggesting that terrorism “will only get worse” if the U.S. doesn’t “get smart” and reinstate his administration’s travel ban.
“We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don’t get smart it will only get worse,” the president warned in a tweet Sunday morning.
Trump’s initial response to Saturday’s terror attack in London — which claimed seven lives, left dozens more hospitalized and ended with police shooting dead three attackers — urged the courts to reinstate the travel ban.
“We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!” the president wrote Saturday night, minutes before assuring London and the United Kingdom that the U.S. will do whatever it can to assist in wake of the attack.
On Sunday, though, the president took a different tack, stoking fears from his personal Twitter account while also criticizing London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, and noting “we are not having a gun debate right now … because they used knives and a truck!”
Authorities said a white van mounted the pavement on the London Bridge on Saturday night, hitting a number of pedestrians. The van later drove to Borough Market, a venue with many bars and restaurants on the south side of the river Thames and very close to London Bridge. The attackers jumped out of the van and stabbed a number of people but were shot dead by police within eight minutes of the first emergency call.
Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, told the BBC that no words could describe the grief and anger London feels.
“I’m appalled and furious that these cowardly terrorists would deliberately target innocent Londoners and bystanders enjoying their Saturday night. There can be no justification for the acts of these terrorists, and I’m quite clear that we will never let them win, nor will we allow them to cower our city of Londoners,” Khan said.
He added that Londoners will see an increased police presence over the next few days but said there’s no reason to be alarmed by that.
Trump, who drew criticism for promoting a Drudge Report tweet that NBC’s “Nightly News” refused to share because “the info is unconfirmed,” mischaracterized Khan’s remark Sunday.
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” Trump said. His social media director, Dan Scavino, urged Khan to “WAKE UP!!!!”
Khan criticized Trump during the U.S. presidential campaign, tweeting in May 2016 that his “ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe” and “risks alienating mainstream Muslims.”
Candidate Trump proposed a “Muslim ban,” but his administration has maintained that its executive order is not a ban on Muslims entering the country but rather a national security directive to keep Americans safe.
After a rampage at a casino in Manila, Philippines, early Friday, Trump labeled it a terrorist attack. But authorities said the incident was likely a robbery attempt.
Trump has often tweeted following terrorist attacks. In April, the president wrote that a shooting on Paris’ Champs Elysées “will have a big effect on presidential election.” Authorities said the attack was “likely terrorist-related.” And following an attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Trump called the attacker an “evil loser” during remarks while he was overseas in Bethlehem.
Trump has asked the Supreme Court to revive his complex and controversial travel ban executive order, which has been repeatedly blocked by lower courts — even after the administration introduced a revised order in March.
The Justice Department on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to temporarily lift injunctions barring officials from carrying out Trump’s directive to suspend visa issuance to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries and halt the flow of refugees to the U.S. from across the globe. The high court could review the legality of the travel ban this fall.
Republicans in Congress, however, are skeptical about the fate of the ban. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Sunday that she disagrees with the president’s view that the travel ban needs to be enacted now.
“I think that the travel ban is too broad, and that is why it has been rejected by the courts,” she told "Face the Nation” on CBS. “The president is right, however, that we need to do a better job of vetting individuals who are coming from war-torn countries into our nation, but I do believe that the very broad ban that he has proposed is not the right way to go.”
Asked on “Fox News Sunday” whether the Supreme Court would reinstate Trump’s travel ban, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) couldn’t say.
“I don’t know what the court will decide,” he said.
Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May by phone on Saturday, according to a readout from the White House, which said the president “offered his condolences” and “praised the heroic response of police and other first responders.”
May said Saturday that the attack was being treated as a “potential act of terrorism,” which she confirmed on Sunday.
“We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism, and perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training — and not even as lone attackers radicalized online — but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack,” May said. “We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are.”
The Anne Frank Center, a nonprofit that focuses on civil and human rights activism, condemned Trump’s first response Saturday, tweeting “SHAME ON YOU … for dedicating your first Tweet after tonight's #LondonBridge attack to your immoral #MuslimBan.”
“Terrorism includes violence that destroys people, as well as prejudice that destroys people's souls. The response cannot be a #MuslimBan,” the center said Sunday.
Ariana Grande's longtime manager, Scooter Braun, announced on Sunday, June 4, that her One Love Manchester benefit concert will continue as planned despite the London terror attack.
"After the events last night in London, and those in Manchester just two weeks ago, we feel a sense of responsibility to honor those lost, injured and affected," Braun, 35, wrote in a statement on Twitter. "We plan to honor them with courage, bravery and defiance in the face of fear. Today's One Love Manchester benefit concert will not only continue, but will do so with greater purpose. We must not be afraid, and in tribute to all those affected here and around the world, we will bring our voices together and sing loudly."
Scooter Braun and Ariana Grande at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on November 22, 2015. Kevin Mazur/AMA2015/WireImage
"I am pleased to say we have the full support of Greater Manchester police and the government and are assured the safety of all those attending is the highest priority," he continued. "All artists involved have been unwavering in their support this morning and are determined to carry on with the show. We ask the strong city of Manchester and the world to join us in making the statement that hatred and fear will never win. Today we stand together. Thank you."
Grande, 23, also addressed the London attack on Twitter, writing, "Praying for London."
As previously reported, at least seven people were killed and more than 48 injured in central London on Saturday, June 3. Three male suspects were shot dead by police. A dozen others have been arrested in connection with the incident, which occurred less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured 59 others at Grande's May 22 concert in Manchester, England.
The One Love Manchester concert begins at 2 p.m. ET, and features headliners Grande, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Niall Horan and more.
Eight police officers fired an unprecedented number of bullets to stop three attackers in London who appeared to be suicide bombers wearing explosive vests, Britain's counter-terrorism police chief said on Sunday.
The three attackers drove a hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday night then ran into the bustling Borough Market area where they stabbed numerous people. Seven died and 48 were taken to hospital.
The attackers were wearing what were later found to be fake explosive vests.
"Eight police firearms officers discharged their weapons ... Our initial assessment is in the region of 50 rounds, in the region of 50 bullets were fired by those eight officers. The three attackers were shot dead," Mark Rowley said.
Most police officers in Britain are not armed and it is unusual for officers to fire their guns.
"The situation these officers were confronted with was critical: a matter of life and death," Rowley said.
"Three armed men wearing what appeared to be suicide belts. They had already attacked and killed members of the public and had to be stopped immediately.
"Indeed I am not surprised that when faced with what they must have feared were three suicide bombers, the firearms officers fired an unprecedented number of rounds to be completely confident that they had neutralized the threat that those men posed."
A member of the public received non-critical gunshot wounds during the incident.
Rowley said police were making significant progress in identifying the three attackers, but gave no details. He said police were increasingly confident the attack had been carried out by three individuals, but needed to establish whether others were involved in the planning.
He also said security arrangements for forthcoming events were being reviewed and the public could expect to see additional police, both armed and unarmed, across the capital.
"You will also see increased physical measures in order to keep the public safe on London's bridges," Rowley said.
Saturday's attack was the second to involve a vehicle driving into pedestrians on a bridge in London in just three months.
In March, five people died after an attacker drove a car at pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and stabbed a policeman in the grounds of parliament. The attacker was shot dead by police.
The death toll rose to seven Sunday, following the latest terrorist attack to strike Britain, with Prime Minister Theresa May blaming the “evil ideology of Islamist extremism” and vowing to conduct a review of the nation’s counterterrorism laws.
London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick confirmed that seven people were killed in Saturday night’s incident that saw a van mow down pedestrians on London Bridgebefore the vehicle’s occupants got out and started stabbing patrons of nearby bars and restaurants. That toll does not include the three attackers, who were fatally shot by officers within eight minutes of the first emergency call, Dick said.
The recent spate of terrorist attacks — Saturday’s was Britain’s third in as many months — were not connected, May said. But she described it as “a new trend” in which terrorists are “copying one another and often using the crudest means of attack.”
Witnesses described a rampage that left a trail of bloodied bodies on the bridge and in the adjacent Borough Market — both of which are London landmarks.
The attacks set off scenes of panic in the heart of London on a cool June evening as the city’s streets were filled with people heading home from dinner or out for a drink.
In packed pubs — normally scenes of Saturday night revelry and merriment — patrons threw chairs, bottles and glasses at the attackers as the assailants used long knives to slash their way through crowds. Tourists gaped at the carnage from the roofs of double-decker buses.
Police said the attacks were being treated as “terrorist incidents.” The top priority of police now is to find out more about “these individuals who carried out the attack and the background to it,” Dick said.
Witnesses reported that a white van was traveling fast — approximately 50 mph — when it mounted the sidewalk and plowed into a group of people crossing the Thames River on foot just after 10 p.m.
The van collided with a guardrail. Bystanders said they thought the crash may have been an accident, until the occupants got out.
The three men who had been in the vehicle immediately began stabbing people on the bridge with knives before making their way to Borough Market, a foodie paradise nestled under the archways of railway viaducts that attracts locals as well as tourists from around the world.
On Sunday morning, Trump again took to Twitter with a series of messages that took aim at political correctness, the call in the United States for tougher gun laws and Khan, the London mayor. Trump chided Khan for attempting to calm the public by assuring that there was “no need to be alarmed.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the agency was monitoring the incidents in London.
“At this time, we have no information to indicate a specific, credible terror threat in the United States,” the spokesman said.
