Updated at 2:35 p.m. ET.
An attack mid-day Wednesday in the heart of London has caused at least four deaths and 20 injuries, according to police.
Police say the dead include the suspected assailant, two civilians and an armed police officer who was defending Parliament.
Authorities have declared the attack a “terrorist incident.” They say they believe there was a single attacker.
Witnesses report that a small SUV barreled into pedestrians along the sidewalk of Westminster Bridge, causing multiple “catastrophic injuries” to pedestrians, according to Britain’s Press Association.
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said he believes this is where the two civilian deaths occurred. Three police officers, who happened to be returning from a commendation ceremony, were also injured by the vehicle, he says.
The London Ambulance Service says it treated 10 injured people on the bridge; after the attack a woman was also found in the Thames, alive but injured.
After striking the pedestrians on the bridge, the SUV then crashed into the fence that surrounds Parliament. A man armed with a knife emerged and stabbed a police officer. The attacker was later shot by police.
The British press report that a member of Parliament was among the people attempting to provide first aid to an injured police officer; photographs show Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood, his face bloodied, crouched at the heart of a group of emergency responders.
The Metropolitan Police said on Twitter that armed officers were among the law enforcement personnel “on scene and dealing with the incident.”
British law enforcement officers do not typically carry guns.
The U.K. House of Commons is under lockdown, as NPR’s Frank Langfitt in London reports. Here’s more from Frank on how the incident unfolded, beginning with the events on Westminster Bridge:
“This is the bridge that goes right up to Big Ben — it crosses the Thames. And it appears that a vehicle went across the bridge [and] went down the sidewalk. And we can see from aerial helicopter shots that in fact there are at least four or five people being treated, lying on sidewalk. Then it came across the bridge [and] crashed into a gate, the front end is smashed up.
“And then somehow a man … got actually inside the gates of the Parliament building and apparently stabbed a police officer.”
Authorities have not identified the driver, although the British press have published images of a man who they say is the suspected assailant.
House of Commons business was suspended for approximately 15 minutes before Commons Leader David Lidington told members of Parliament about the situation, saying a police officer had been stabbed and the alleged assailant shot by armed police.
During the lockdown, members of the House of Commons nearly filled the chamber’s famed green benches — moments earlier, the benches sat empty after a sparsely attended debate over pension plan rules.
MPs later voted to adjourn Parliament for the remainder of the day.
“For this to happen right in the heart of the city is very shocking,” Frank added. It’s also surprising that an attacker appears to have gotten into the heavily-fortified premises of Parliament.
The nearby Westminster metro station is closed “due to a police investigation,” city authorities said, and police have asked members of the public to steer clear of the area.
Additional police have been deployed around the city, Harrington said.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a tweet that President Trump has been briefed on the ongoing situation.
This is a developing story. Some things that get reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.
9(MDEwMjQ0ODM1MDEzNDk4MTEzNjU3NTRhYg004))
