Hemera/Thinkstock(LONDON) — London’s Metropolitan Police said an apparent attack near the Houses of Parliament Wednesday was being treated as “a terrorist incident until we know otherwise.”
David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told members of Parliament a “police officer has been stabbed” and an “alleged assailant was shot by armed police.”
Lidington added that there were reports of further “violence incidents” in the area.
An eyewitness told BBC that a car on Westminster Bridge appeared to hit bystanders. Paramedics were seen on Westminster Bridge Road treating people lying on the ground.
While the number of victims was not immediately clear, the London Ambulance Service said it sent a “number of resources” to the scene including ambulance crews, London’s Air Ambulance and the Hazardous Area Response Team.
“We have declared a major incident and our priority is to assess patients and ensure that they are treated and taken to hospital as soon as possible,” the London Ambulance Service said in a statement.
Parliament is on lockdown.
As police swarmed the area, Tom Peck, a British journalist, told ABC News that he heard a loud bang, lots of screaming and then several gunshots from his office in London.
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