A man armed with a “large knife” assaulted two police officers outside Buckingham Palace

A man with a “large knife” who assaulted two police officers outside Buckingham Palace on Friday night has been arrested, British police said.

The officers suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment. The man, who is in his mid-twenties according to the police, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and assault on police near Queen Elizabeth’s London residence.

No members of the royal family were present in the palace at the time. A Metropolitan Policespokeswoman said she was unable to comment at this stage on the motivation for the incident.

Britain has been hit this year by four militant attacks in which 36 people were killed, and the country’s threat level is at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

A Reuters witness near the scene said police had cordoned off a large area for security, including The Mall, a wide avenue leading up to the palace. Footage on Sky News showed emergency vehicles lining the street outside the palace.

“The man was stopped this evening, Friday 25 August at approximately 20:35 hours (1935 GMT) by officers at the Mall outside Buckingham Palace in possession of (a) knife,” the police said in a statement.

“During the course of detaining him, two male police officers suffered minor injuries to their arm.”

The suspect was taken to a London hospital for treatment of minor injuries, the police statement added. There were no other reported injuries.

The police said the suspect will be questioned by detectives and that it is too early to speculate further.

British counter-terrorism officials investigate armed man arrested near queen’s palace

The man armed with a large knife who assaulted two police officers outside Buckingham Palace is being investigated by counter-terrorism officials, British police said on Saturday.

The man was stopped on Friday evening while driving in a restricted area near the palace, the London home of Queen Elizabeth, after officers spotted a blade weapon in his car.

“During the course of detaining him, two male police officers suffered minor injuries to their arm,”police said. They were later discharged after treatment.

The suspect, who is in his mid-20s according to the police, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and assault on police. He was then further arrested under Britain’s Terrorism Act, the police said in another statement overnight.

“My partner saw a sword (…) as well as a policeman with blood on him, looking like his hand or chest was injured. The police officer had it in his hand, walking away with it,” said an unnamed witness quoted by The Times newspaper, who said tourists were running away from the scene.

“Something happened before, which is why the people ran away. I’m not sure what this was. But people were already scared and I saw the policeman pull the man from the car” the witness said.

Police appealed to witnesses to come forward with any further information on the incident.

Photo source: Facebook.com/ Patrick Savage