Horror moment van strikes man before terrifying sword rampage left boy, 14, dead

A murder suspect remains in hospital after a 14-year-old boy was fatally stabbed and four others injured in a sword attack in London.

Footage shows the moment before chaos in Hainault, northeast London, when a man went on a sword rampage on a residential road.

A 36-year-old man was tasered and arrested on Tuesday morning and taken to hospital after sustaining injuries when his van crashed into a house.

The suspect remains in hospital and officers have not been able to interview him because of his injuries, the Metropolitan Police said.

Four others, including two police officers, were injured and taken to hospital where they remain.

Two officers suffered wounds that required surgery but are not life-threatening. The injuries of the two people are not thought to be life-threatening.

A 14-year-old boy tragically died from his injuries.

Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell said: ‘He was taken to hospital after being stabbed and sadly died a short while after. The child’s family are being supported firstly by my local officers and now with some specialist officers.’

The attack is not believed to be targeted or terror-related, the police said.

The Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley spoke to LBC’s Nick Ferrari today, saying one of the officers injured in the attack suffered ‘really horrifically serious injuries’ to her arm.

He said officers arrived at the scene in 12 minutes.

Witnesses have described the terrifying moment they spotted a man armed with a huge sword walking from house to house after crashing his van into a building.

Footage shows police approaching him as he brandishes his weapon.

Mr Bell said the suspect was tasered at the scene and arrested 22 minutes after the first call to the police was made shortly before 7am.

Footage shows how officers shout at the suspect after he was cornered and tasered, saying “don’t move, don’t f****** move” after he is lying on the ground following three taser discharges.

Manpreet Sing, manager of Redbridge Radio Cars, told Metro.co.uk what he saw outside the taxi firm’s office at Hainault Tube station: ‘I saw about six or seven people going in and out of Franklyn Gardens and people coming up to the train station saying there was a guy with a machete.’

‘It looked like there was one man who had stabbed someone and the other people in the street were bystanders on their way to work who had tried to fight him off.

‘A guy walked up the road who had been stabbed in his neck. He was saying “I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed” and walking towards the police.’

He said it looked like ‘they tried to intervene but not been able to fight him off’ because of the ‘size of the weapon.’

He continued: ‘When we came out the police cars were there and the guy came running from Franklyn Gardens towards Thurlow Gardens. He tried to get into a house but there was a dog there.

‘He tried to get into another house but the police got him under control by tasering him.’

James Fernando, 39, claimed the suspect had asked one of his neighbours to “take the telephone from him to tell whoever was on the phone his location.”‘

He told PA how the suspect pulled a samurai sword from the back of his trousers.

He said: ‘Within two seconds after that she’s realised something isn’t right, started running and he’s pulled a samurai sword from the back of his trouser.

‘She’s shouted to the other neighbour – a Nigerian boy who was on his way to school.’

The suspect was still ‘running around’ with a sword in his hand even after the police came, he claimed.

Footage shows a man dressed in a yellow hooded jumper carrying a large knife.

Other footage shows the suspect being chased by police as an officer is heard shouting “lock your doors” as the man entered residential gardens, the news agency reports.

Officers are heard shouting “come here”, “come this way” and “drop the sword” at the suspect who climbed on top of an outbuilding and dropped into a garden.

Amir, 36, said the commotion outside his bedroom window woke him up.

He told Metro: ‘I saw several police cars going up and down the road, taped off the road and blocked people from going to the station.

‘I saw it from my bedroom window, several ambulances and police cars go by every couple of minutes as fast as they could.

‘I ended up going out of the building and saw that it was mayhem, really. Police cars everywhere, commuters not knowing what to do, how to get to work, not knowing where this guy had been.’

Another witness said he heard shrieking at about 7am before witnessing a man dressed in yellow climbing over fences.

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘I heard shouting, I heard shrieking – I thought “who would be shrieking at this time in the morning?”

‘I looked out the back window because the noise was coming from back there, I saw a bloke dressed in yellow jumping over some fences…then he went down an alley like he was going back onto the street again.’

A witness, who asked not to be named, said: ‘He disappeared down an alley and then he was out of sight.

‘The police went into the alley and there seemed to be some sort of a stand-off there where I heard this huge commotion, then I heard a scream.

‘From that commotion, at least one person was knifed – I think it might have been a woman because I heard a woman scream and then some sort of sobbing sounds.

‘I then heard a voice say something like “she’s been stabbed in the face” or “we need assistance” – you know, calling for medical back-up.’

The Metropolitan Police said yesterday: ‘Police and other emergency services are in Hainault, east London, at a serious incident in which a man with a sword has been arrested.

‘We were called shortly before 7am to reports of a vehicle being driven into a house in the Thurlow Gardens area. There were reports people have been stabbed.

‘At this time we understand the suspect went on to attack other members of the public and two police officers.’

Footage seen by PA shows a man in a yellow jumper chasing after an ambulance while holding a sword as a body lies motionless on the ground.

The home security video shows an ambulance parked next to the body lying on the road in Laing Close before the ambulance quickly drives away from the scene and the man runs after it, shouting.

In another video clip, sent by an anonymous resident, a police car arrives before the man verbally confronts the police and shouts “Is there anybody here who believes in God?” while standing next to the motionless body.

A voice is heard shouting “Drop the sword” before a police officer approaches the man and sprays a substance in his direction before he retreats.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles’s ‘thoughts and prayers are with all those affected’ by the ‘horrific’ stabbings.

He added: ‘In particular, the family of the young victim who has lost his life.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on X (formerly Twitter): ‘This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with those affected and their families.

‘I’d like to thank the emergency services for their ongoing response, and pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery shown by police on the scene. Such violence has no place on our streets.’

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