by Donald Wood
Last updated: 1:00 PM ET, Thu March 23, 2017
An attack in London left three victims and the suspect dead, along with at least 40 people injured when the suspected terrorist drove a vehicle through a crowd on Westminster Bridge Wednesday before crashing into a railing.
The suspect, identified as 52-year-old Khalid Masood, then jumped out of the vehicle and allegedly stabbed police officer Keith Palmer with a knife before he was shot to death by authorities outside the House of Commons, according to NBC News.
British police have arrested eight people in connection with the crimes-the deadliest London terror attack in 12 years. According to CNN.com, an ISIS-affiliated news agency claimed the group was behind the attack.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May told reporters that the suspect was British born and previously linked to violent extremism, but was considered a "peripheral figure." UK finance minister Philip Hammond called the attack "horrific."
The Associated Press is reporting that one of the victims killed in the attack was an American man from Utah and that his wife was among the injured. CNN identified the male victim as Kurt Cochran and his wife as Melissa, saying that they were in London celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.
U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the situation on Twitter:
It was also revealed that one of the day's victims was a tourist who fell into the River Thames following the attack. She was in London celebrating her boyfriend's birthday and suffered serious injuries to her head and lungs, The AP reported.
"We saw loads of people ducking down," a witness named George Nuth told NBC News. "It must've been a tour group, around 20 or 30 people, and police or security were telling people to run. A policeman said to us: 'Stop dawdling if you don't want to get shot.'"
A short distance away, hundreds of tourists were trapped inside the London Eye Ferris Wheel for nearly three hours after the Westminster area was placed on lockdown, according to The Sun. There were over 50 school children on board the tourist attraction at the time of the attack.
In the United States, New York City police increased security with armed officers and bomb-sniffing dogs Wednesday night at British sites across Manhattan, including the British Consulate and the British Mission to the United Nations. A similar protocol had been followed after the attacks in Paris, Brussels and San Bernardino, California.
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