- The suspect in Sunday’s stabbing attack in south London has been identified by police as 20-year-old Sudesh Amman.
- According to London’s Metropolitan Police, Amman had recently been released from prison for possessing and terrorist publications.
- In one instance, Amman had texted his girlfriend encouraging her to behead her parents in a text message, Reuters reported.
- Amman had stolen his weapon – a £3.99 ($5), ten-inch knife – from the shelf of a nearby hardware store, and was wearing an explosive vest that turned out to be a hoax.
- Two people were injured in the stabbing, which police are calling an isolated “terrorist-related” incident.
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The man shot dead by UK police after stabbing two people on Sunday has been identified as 20-year-old Sudesh Amman.
He had been released from jail one week ago, where he was released after serving half of his three-years, four-month sentence. He had been under “active police surveillance” at the time of his attack, the BBC reported.
The stabbing took place around 2 p.m. local time in Streatham, south London, London Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Lucy D’Orsi said in a Sunday statement.
Armed officers who were part of a counter-terrorism surveillance operation followed Amman by foot and shot him dead at the scene, D’Orsi said.
Amman also had an explosive device strapped to his body, which officers quickly discovered was a hoax, D'Orsi said.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday.
In December 2018, Amman was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to "possession of terrorist documents and disseminating terrorist publication," Reuters reported.
Amman once texted his girlfriend telling her to behead her parents, and shared an online al-Qaeda magazine with his family, Reuters cited police as saying.
A total of three people were taken to south London hospitals after the attack. One, a man in 40s, initially sustained life-threatening injuries but is no longer in critical condition as of Monday.
The two other victims were identified as a woman in her 50s with non-life-threatening injuries, and a woman in her 20s with minor injuries believed to have been sustained from glass that shattered when police shot the suspect.
Police say they are "confident" this is an isolated incident.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to introduce "fundamental changes to the system for dealing with those convicted of terrorism offenses."
"Following the awful events at Fishmongers' Hall, we have moved quickly to introduce a package of measures to strengthen every element of our response to terrorism - including longer prison sentences and more money for the police," Johnson said in a statement.
He was referring to a separate terror attack that took place on London Bridge in late November last year. The suspect, Usman Khan, carried out his attack after attending an event at the nearby Fishmongers' Hall.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement shortly after Sunday's incident that he was in close contact with authorities as they investigated the incident.
"Terrorists seek to divide us and to destroy our way of life - here in London we will never let them succeed."
