London police say one of the three suspects in the van and knife attack near London Bridge that left seven people dead was known to authorities, but they had no reason to think he was actively planning to do harm.
The latest on the attacks in the London Bridge area (all times local) :
6: 15 p.m.
London police say one of the three suspects in the van and knife attack near London Bridge that left seven people dead was known to authorities, but they had no reason to think he was actively planning to do harm.
Police said in a statement on Monday that British police and intelligence agencies were familiar with 27-year-old Khuram Shazad Butt, a British citizen born in Pakistan.
The statement did not provide details on why Butt had come to the attention of law enforcement.
Police in London said a second suspect identified Monday, Rashid Redouane was not known to police.
Investigations are continuing to identify the third attacker.
In Monday’s statement, police also said two of the 12 people arrested since the attack as possible accomplices have been freed.
___
6: 10 p.m.
Police in London have named two of the three suspects in the van and knife attack near London Bridge that left seven people dead.
London police said 27-year-old Khuram Shazad Butt was a British citizen born in Pakistan and Rachid Redouane had claimed both Libyan and Moroccan nationality.
Redouane’s age was not immediately known because he gave two different dates of birth.
Both men were from the Barking neighborhood of east London, where police raids began shortly after the attacks Saturday night.
Police say investigations are continuing into the identity of the third attacker.
The three suspects were shot dead by police officers within minutes after the drove a van into pedestrians on the bridge and then stormed pubs and restaurants stabbing anyone in their path.
___
5: 30 p.m.
The sister of a missing 32-year-old man says he is believed to have died in the attacks on London Bridge and a nearby food market Saturday night.
Melissa McMullan told Sky News on Monday that police said her brother James McMullan’s bank card was found on one of the bodies after the attack, which claimed seven victims.
She says authorities are « unable to formally identify him until the coroner’s report begins tomorrow. »
McMullan says her brother lived in Hackney in east London and was last seen outside a pub just before the van and knife attacks began.
She said: « While our pain will never diminish, it is important for us all to carry on with our lives in direct opposition to those who wish to destroy us. »
London police say they cannot confirm the identities of people caught up in the attack.
___
1: 35 p.m.
The Czech government has approved a plan to reinforce the country’s police forces following a wave of terror attacks in Britain and elsewhere in Europe.
Interior Minister Milan Chovanec says the long-term plan is meant for police to be able to face « new security threats such is terrorism. »
One of the plan’s goals is to increase the number of officers by 10 percent from 40,000 to 44,000.
Prime Minister Boshuslav Sobotka said on Monday the reinforcement should also help boost security at the country’s nuclear plants and improve police capabilities in the fight against cybercrime.
___
1: 10 p.m.
Neighbors of one of the dead suspects in the London Bridge attacks say he was trying to radicalize young people, and that they reported him to police.
Jibril Palomba said he and his wife worried because the man, whom they knew as Abu Mohammed and recognized in photos of the attack, gave their children candy and preached about Islam. Erica Gasparri said she also saw him and two other men proselytizing outside a school.
Another neighbor, Michael Mimbo, said the van later used to ram pedestrians on the bridge was blocking the road at the suspect’s housing complex on Friday. The next day, Mimbo says that same van sped erratically down the street.
Police have not released the names of the three attackers who killed seven people before being shot to death.
___
1: 00 p.m.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Police Commissioner Cressida Dick have toured the site of the London Bridge attack and praised the quick police work that they said prevented further deaths. Dick said Monday the attack was « ghastly » but that Londoners are pulling together and refusing to be cowed by terrorists.
She said providing more firearms for London police would not be a sound solution to the increased tempo of terrorist attacks, saying the strategy of heavily armed, highly mobile specialty teams is effective.
The mayor and the commissioner were briefly heckled by a man who called for more police to be put on the streets
___
11: 45 a.m.
Prime Minister Theresa May says she supports the « shoot to kill » policy used by London police in responding to terror attacks.
May says police saved « countless lives » by killing the three London bridge attackers within eight minutes on Saturday night.
May says police counter-terrorism resources are well-funded despite cuts to police staffing levels. She has been criticized for staff cuts during her tenure as Home Secretary.
___
11: 40 a.m.
Prime Minister Theresa May says Britain must do « more, much more » to fight Islamic extremism. She called it « an evil ideology » that perverts Islam and perverts the truth.
May said Monday Britain will review its counter-terrorism strategy and consider extending prison terms. She said more must be done to combat « bigotry and hatred. »
___
11: 10 a.m.
Prime Minister Theresa May says police have identified all the London Bridge attackers and that 11 people remain in custody for possible connections to the attack.
One person has been released without charge. Police raids are continuing.
May said Monday the police and counter-terrorism operations are adequately funded and staffed and that the official threat level is to remain at « severe, » meaning an attack in highly likely.
___
9: 45 a.m.
Commuters and cyclists were back on the streets of south London Monday morning, elbowing past journalists and camera crews on Southwark Bridge Road’s narrow sidewalks.
A commuter, Martin Howells, said things were calm but not unusually so. Standing near a lamp post smashed in the attack, he said: « It was really not different, it was surprisingly normal. »
Farhad Ahmad and Hazik Rahman, two members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, said they had been out since dawn answering questions from locals and reporters about Islam.
Ahmad, a 25-year-old imam, said he came at 6 o’clock. He said: « We’ve spoken to seven to eight people. We feel that a lot of people do have questions in their minds. »
His companion, Rahman, wore a blue hoodie with the words « Muslims for Humanity. »
___
9: 35 a.m.
Spain’s Interior minister says that a 39 year-old Spaniard is missing after confronting one of the assailants in Saturday’s deadly attack in central London.
Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido says Ignacio Echeverria, a London-based banker, who was last seen in the vicinity of Borough Market. Zoido says friends and relatives say Echeverria had confronted a man who stabbed a woman.
Interviewed by Cadena Ser radio on Monday, Zoido asked relatives of the Spaniard to keep calm because many of the wounded during Saturday’s attack are still being identified.
The Foreign Ministry said Sunday that another man from Spain was being treated in a London hospital for non-critical wounds.
___
7: 30 a.m.
London police have raided raid two addresses and detained « a number » of people suspected of some connection to the Saturday night car attack and knife rampage on London Bridge. Seven people were killed by the three attackers, and 21 remain in critical condition.
Following Monday’s dawn raids, lone local resident tweeted: « It woke me up along with the whole street. Extremely loud bangs followed by gunshot bangs. All ok – very shaken residents nearby though. »
___
5: 00 a.m.
Australia’s prime minister says up to four Australians were victims of the van and knife attacks on London Bridge and in London’s Borough Market.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says two Australians who both were stabbed in the neck are recovering.
