this is bbc news. i'm ben brown live in south london. the headlines at 7pm: a man shot dead by police after he stabbed people on streatham high road in south london this afternoon was under active police surveillance, it is understood. three people are hurt, with one in a life—threatening condition, in what police described as a terrorist—related incident. how many shots did you hear? like three. three shots. and what happened then? what did you do? ijust ran. ijust ran for my life. how frightening was that? very frightening, and i'm still shaking. prime minister borisjohnson thanked the emergency services,

saying his thoughts were with those injured in the attack good evening from streatham in south london. we are on the high road here, which is usually a really busy road. as you can see, it is com pletely road. as you can see, it is completely closed off now. we are behind the police cordoned while the police carry out an investigation into what exactly happened here and a forensic examination of the area. what we do know is that shortly before 2pm this afternoon, police shot dead a man who had stabbed

three members of the public. now, those three were all taken to hospital. one has life—threatening injuries. another had minor injuries and was treated at the scene and then taken to hospital. another is in hospital with non—life—threatening injuries. so three people stabbed. it appears that the police were carrying out a surveillance operation following the surveillance operation following the surveillance because three people we re surveillance because three people were seen by eyewitnesses, three plainclothed police officers were seen following the assailant. they shouted a warning sent him. when he failed to respond to those warnings, they shot him. three rounds were heard, so three shots were fired at the assailant. he was brought to the ground and killed at the scene just outside boots pharmacy. the three undercover plainclothed officers put on police hats and told members of the public to get away from the scene. the area was then put into lockdown. people were told to stay in their shops and their flats and their homes for the time being while

their homes for the time being while the area was secured. let's get this report from duncan kennedy. these were the chaotic scenes in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. and then this. officers from the metropolitan police seen taking aim. the incident is still unfolding. it's around two o'clock this afternoon. police were at the scene extremely quickly. a few moments later, officers are seen rushing towards the man. at some point, the shots were fired. and then moments later, the man is seen lying on the floor. i heard that there was a shooting, that somebody was stabbing people and they had to shoot him. and what else? and nothing more. how many shots did you hear? three. three shots. and then what happened?

what did you do? ijust ran. ijust ran for my life. how frightening was that? very frightening. and still shaking. it soon becomes clear that this is the man the police have targeted. eyewitnesses have spoken of seeing someone with a knife attack people in a shop and also attacking a woman on a bicycle outside. close—up shots appear to show the man appearing to be carrying some form of device. there's also a knife close by to where the man is lying. the home secretary, priti patel, later described this as a terrorist incident. well, let's talk to duncan live. the sequence well, let's talk to duncan live. the sequence of events. just talk to is a bit about that because it is becoming clear that the assailant who was shot dead was under some kind of play surveillance. yes, definitely, that has now been confirmed that he was under surveillance. it is not clear where

that surveillance began. we had a series of events where we are not clear whether link lies so first of all we heard that about half a mile down that way on streatham common, very big partjust south of us, there was some kind of hard stop by police of a car. that is the first point. events then moved here to where we were, about 100 yards down the road, to the boots store. at that point, the stabbing starts. it is not clear whether the suspect had a knife with our where he somehow grabbed it in boots or another shop. that is when the three people are stabbed. events then seem to move out onto the pavement. then the police any police, involved again. the same surveillance officers from the car earlier? we don't know. eyewitnesses speak of hearing these three shots and then the man ends up on the ground. we then start getting reports that the officers putting on their hats, telling people to get away, those kind of warnings. we also hear from eyewitnesses about the fact that this man might have been wearing some kind of device will stop people and spoke about silver canisters around his body.

again, from the images we have all seen again, from the images we have all seen and statements coming from eyewitnesses, it is not clear whether that is a case or not. we do know and we have seen up close that there was this knife on the floor by there was this knife on the floor by the body. as you are saying earlier, the body. as you are saying earlier, the three people involved were taken to hospital, one of them with life—threatening injuries. there are reports of one woman sitting on the street who had apparently, according to one eyewitness, been stabbed in the back. so a horrific attack that unfolded here before the suspect was shot by the police. absolutely awful, of a series ofjust a few moments because we know the police we re moments because we know the police were involved in this from an earlier stage. it is not as though it isa earlier stage. it is not as though it is a random attack and there were no police around. as aware, for example, in the london bridge incident. they were clearly part of the scene. and also i think we can say that they weren't possibly expecting anything because they weren't the heavily tooled up police officers with the rival type guns. these were other officers with what appeared to be handguns. so they we re appeared to be handguns. so they were maybe just following the man

and not expecting anything like this to unfold. but clearly this woman and these are the people who got involved and the police acted very quickly to take this man down. they later confirmed that he has been killed. what is happening here now because as we were saying this is normally a very busy road. it was very busy at the time of the attack, packed with shoppers and traffic and now it is completely empty. to stand thereabout on the judge behind us, thereabout on the judge behind us, the police investigation continuing. very much so. this is a main artery into and out of south london. a lot of people go to brighton through this road and on into brixton into central london. it is incredible to keep this very busy road shut but the police are of these are going to be have to do that because they have a number of operations under way at the moment. scenes of crime people taking photographs. we have seen the flashing bulbs there. other officers in the white forensic boiler suits, so in the white forensic boiler suits, so used to coming for evidence, possibly spent shells, other things that they meticulously do after all of these events. again, we sought

most recently with the london bridge incident. and also we have seen them speaking to eyewitnesses and taking some of them away for further interviews and further statements. a lot of activity and no doubt that will take many, many hours for this road to reopen again. indeed, all right, thank you very much indeed. duncan kennedy, our reporter here. well, duncan mentioned the eyewitnesses that we have been talking to. one of those was the local mp, talking to. one of those was the localmp, —— one talking to. one of those was the local mp, —— one of those was very close to the scene as the events unfolded and so exactly what happened and heard what happened as well. we will be hearing from him a little bit later on but we have also been hearing from the local mp, the labourmpfor been hearing from the local mp, the labour mp for streatham. she told me this is very much at the moment a community that is in shock by what has happened this afternoon. firstly, our prayers and thoughts go out to those who are injured and their families and actually those who witnessed it. as you said, it is a very busy day

for streatham high road. there will be loads of people, including children, going to the cinema, going to the shops and who may have witnessed what happened, which will be quite traumatic for them and as far as we know two individuals have been stabbed, one is quite seriously unwell with the stabbing and we hope that they pull through soon, and obviously the perpetrator was shot dead by police. the police and emergency services have been fantastic in their response. they got here quite quickly, responded to the incident, taking down the perpetrator, who as you may know they have been watching for some time so hopefully we'll hear more information about that tomorrow, but there's not much more out there. but just to say to the people of streatham, the police do have the situation under control, the area will be cordoned off for some time but hopefully we'll be back to resuming normal, the road as normal, by tomorrow, and also just do not be afraid. it is quite a scary thing to happen.

this is my home as well and i feel... i feel devastated by what's happened but if we show fear and we feed into those divisions in society, then those terrorists have won. and is your information that this happened inside a shop just down there, that that's where the attacker struck? i've heard it was just outside. obviously, as you said, details are quite sketchy. i suppose who's been injured is more important than the exact specifications of where it happened and obviously those individuals are being treated at the moment but i heard it was just outside on the high road, i believe just outside the boots. just outside boots. and your understanding is that the attacker, the assailant, was somebody who was known to the police, to the authorities? well, again, that's something that has been put into the public domain. the police will no doubt comment on that further as time goes on and it's more appropriate for them to give a proper response to the situation, but as people would have seen, the police acted swiftly to apprehend this man

and they've done a sterling job today in protecting us here in streatham. and after that happened, people had to stay inside the shops, inside the flats and homes. as you say, that must‘ve been pretty frightening for anyone living around here. especially having heard the gunshots. yeah, no, i've heard from a lot of people who were very, very scared, some friends and colleagues who were actually right outside the incident, heard it happen, and rushed straight back into where they were. i can't imagine how they felt. there would have been lots of people like myself, a normal sunday afternoon, coming back from church, on their way to the mosque, and wouldn't have expected something like this to happen, but obviously the response was quite swift and people were either asked to go back into the shops or their homes and stay there until the situation was under control and i think that shows the very best about emergency services in dealing with a situation like this. and is very busy road

closed off as we can see. have you been given any idea how long it might take for it to reopen for things to get back to normal here? obviously, we need to wait for the police to do their full investigation. that is the right and proper thing to do, but from what they have said, how long is a piece of string? hopefully, by tomorrow, we will resume normal service and i think that should be possible. we can still hear a helicopter hovering above. what is your message to the people here in this community of streatham that you represent? because obviously it is a pretty shocking incident. it is very shocking but i think the main thing for them to hear is people do these terrible things but not to be afraid. we have our emergency services that have gone in swiftly to protect us and as i have said if we continue in that fear of life or we continue to be divided by things like this the terrorists have won so i would just say to everybody it is very, very scary. i feel that fear myself, but from tomorrow hopefully things will be back to normal. we should continue to to keep those that are injured and our thoughts and our prayers,

but streatham is a very, very resilient community and i absolutely sure that we'll be fine. let mejust show let me just show you the scene as that investigation continues. it will be going on through the night. those officers at the scene with a fingertip search of the area, just making sure they are picking up all of the evidence about what happened, although clearly a lot of it is ca ptu red although clearly a lot of it is captured by eyewitnesses who were filming on their mobile phones. we have seen some of that footage and we have been talking a lot to the eyewitnesses as well, who talked about how those three plainclothes officers were following the suspect, shouting warnings before they shot him with three rounds, it seems, and he fell to the ground outside boots pharmacy. we can talk now to jonathan barclay, who is green party co—leader. you may know him as. but he is also the green party local councillor here in streatham and

this is actually your word and you live very close. what was the first you had heard about what happened here this afternoon?” you had heard about what happened here this afternoon? i was literally just in my house about to make some lunch. my partner went out to get some additional items and there was a shout and a woman said, there's been a shooting. another woman next to her burst into floods of tears and said she was worried about her daughter and a real sense of disbelief that a shooting could happen and of course when the police and said very quickly that this was and said very quickly that this was a terror —related incident, absolute stand community. can't believe this would happen in streatham. we celebrate our diversity. you can walk down this road and i have done for 20 years and you'll hear dozens of different languages being spoken in different accents and it is one of the things that make streatham great. we celebrate that inclusivity, that diversity. write down when it happened, there is a synagogue there and then there is the mask and then the two churches, the mask and then the two churches, the catholic and the anglican next door to each other. this is a

wonderful melting pot of different vibrant communities and so disbelief. and lots of questions about how this could happen in the middle of somewhere like streatham. do you have any more information about what happened ? do you have any more information about what happened? it does seem like this man was being followed by police and there was some sort of undercover surveillance operation that led up to this. a lot of eyewitnesses and friends are saying the police were here incredibly quickly. they were here almost as the incident was unfolding and in great numbers, so plainclothed officers and uniformed officers and officers and uniformed officers and of course police with guns and weapons. so there was a question. that now seems to have just very recently been answered that it does seem recently been answered that it does seem that they were following the suspect from streatham common word, which isjust down suspect from streatham common word, which is just down there and then reports of a car, a bmw and people we re reports of a car, a bmw and people were not sure whether it was the attacker or the police that got out of that car. so a great attitude to the police for getting your so quickly and to the emergency services for all they have done but

also questions about if this man was under surveillance why the police —— what exact was going on. three members of the public have been attacked and stabbed and in hospital, one with life—threatening injuries. yes. i gather there is one particular person that is right on the edge and three people really hurt. streatham is at its best at a moment of crisis and over the years, certainly in the institutional memory of the second world war it comes together in moments like this andi comes together in moments like this and i think the whole community will wa nt to and i think the whole community will want to send their thoughts and prayers to everyone who has been affected by particular lady three people who are in hospital right at this moment and tomorrow i expect to see on the street... and please have a lot of work to do but when it opens up again i will expect izzy a return of that feeling of safety and celebration of inclusion. that sense that we won't be defeated by fear. when we come out and when we are strong and when we are united we can

ove 1120 m e strong and when we are united we can overcome pure and actually those that perpetrate this kind of incident want to spread fear and we can overcome it by standing together. thank you very much indeed. co—leader of the green party and green party councillorfor this word in streatham in south london. we have been hearing from eyewitnesses throughout the afternoon, ever since this happened. one of them was very close to what happened, saw the three plainclothed officers as they shot the man dead at around 2pm this afternoon. this is what he told me a short time ago. i work is what he told me a short time ago. iwork in is what he told me a short time ago. i work in streatham high street and this afternoon around two o'clock in the busy time i see people panicking and screaming and i see a young guy was working on the pathway and wearing some staff and behind him some plainclothed officers with a gun are chasing him for a few guards and then they want him to stop and they had to shoot him at least i

hear three banks in front of the pharmacy. this was in front of bits. yes, boots, that is correct. wanted them and look like? was he carrying a knife at that stage, some sort of night? i did not see a knife but i did see he had something on him. and he was a young male, early 20s, with long hair. buti he was a young male, early 20s, with long hair. but i did not see a knife. and what was the distance that they were chasing? it was one officer that was chasing him. that they were chasing? it was one officer that was chasing himm that they were chasing? it was one officer that was chasing him. it was three officers. all officers were normal like me and you and you do not know they are officers. they pointed a gun and they were chasing him. it was for a good 30 yards from where i was standing they were chasing him. saw three plainclothes officers, not in uniform. no, i did not know they were officer. and then they shot him and then they brought on their hats and they were putting on their hats and they were putting on police hats and they told us

evacuate, the blast may go off. they told you to get out of the area. to evacuate and more police came and then we saw a sniper came to because in the time that they shot him he was still alive on the floor. that is why they keep him on the ground. they say don't move. and you think there were three shots fired. the element i heard three shots but i have seen police with ape pistol chasing him. and where they shouting at him? did you hear them shout anything? i heard a shout but you don't know what it is. there were like four people running. you don't know what is going on. so this was a gun so it made me wonder and then they shot him. you just thought it was another day in london with a gunshot, but obviously it was police and then i now know there is a bomb on him as well. what was going through all your mind when this was happening? were you frightened?m course, i was shocked. even now i don't leave it because a place like streatham high street in london, a sunday, busy time, i never thought

that would happen, but people were screaming and panicking, including me. i had to get out as soon as possible. and what we're doing when all of a sudden folded?” possible. and what we're doing when all of a sudden folded? i was like a normal day with my work. and i am shocked actually, still. i don't know. it was shocking. you work here on streatham high road?” know. it was shocking. you work here on streatham high road? i work opposite and that is where i work andi opposite and that is where i work and i still don't believe it happened here. and other people, what was their reaction in the aftermath of all of this? a lot of people on the bus stop and you see that a lot of people were screaming and first of all i see people were running from the direction he was coming and that is where i saw him. it is like normal. and how do you feel now, having witnessed all of this? i feel like i am shocked, to be honest. i am still shaking, but now i feel ok. i don't have to describe it. you, shocking. by the police decked out very decisively,

very quickly. are you grateful for that because we know that three people it is now confirmed where stabbed? i didn't know that about the police. so many were over there. it was very quick response. they we re it was very quick response. they were all over, actually. and what about the ambulances? how quickly did they get to the scene?” about the ambulances? how quickly did they get to the scene? i have no idea because you had the police and telling me move back so we had to leave immediately. i didn't see anything. and they were telling you to move back because there might be some sort of bomber some sort of suicide vest? there was an officer with a uniform that he said he has a bomb on him, it may go off. so we had to leave the property as soon as possible. and that is why i saw it. and now my car is there and i don't know what is happening. you have a business on the high road.” know what is happening. you have a business on the high road. i work there. i work as a barber. busy day, sunday. cancel all of this unfolded adjust if you yards from where you were? it was from here till that

side. it was a normal day. i don't know how to feel about it. later shocking. in the first you heard was really when is... what alerted you to the situation? what was it, a noise that made you look out into the street? i saw this lady, who is working with a baby energy was running in the middle of the street and a summer people and i said, what is that? and i saw this young guy, the guy who got shot and he was coming ina the guy who got shot and he was coming in a direction behind him and normal person and i didn't know it was the police, three people, actually, with a pistol, telling him weight, stop, and they had to shut him. and the lady that you saw comedy think that was one of the people who had been stabbed?” comedy think that was one of the people who had been stabbed? i don't know but she had a baby and she was working in that direction and that is where she was coming to that street direction and that i was running straight to the direction of bits. and what sort of community is adherent streatham ? bits. and what sort of community is adherent streatham? it is very diverse. everybody knows each other.

it isa diverse. everybody knows each other. it is a very nice community. everybody here is the prize that it happening here. we don't know why. how it could possibly happen here. we don't know. well, that was an eyewitness who as you heard there saw pretty much everything as it unfolded, as those three plainclothed officers followed the assailant and then shot him dead with three rounds. we havejust assailant and then shot him dead with three rounds. we have just had a statement from the police in which they are saying that there was a device found strapped to the body of the suspect that turned out to be a hoax device. let's talk to our correspondence here in streatham, duncan kennedy, who has the latest virus. i think you got that statement. can you tell us what it says? it comes from the deputy assista nt says? it comes from the deputy assistant commissioner, lizzie darcey. she says that two people we re darcey. she says that two people were stabbed at two o'clock this afternoon and then she goes on to say that as part of a proactive counterterrorism operation armed officers were in immediate

attendance and shot a male suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene. who was pronounced dead at the scene. i am coming out of the way here. we have some activity taking place here. the statement then goes on to say that a device was found strapped to the body of the suspect and that specialist officers attended. she didn't specify who those officers were. the statement then goes on that cartons were put in place and it was quickly established that this was a hoax device so no more word on what people were saying about this being a surveillance operation per se, no details on that, but clearly these officers were in attendance very quickly and confirmed very quickly that this was a hoax device that the man was wearing, but that he was shot dead. that has been confirmed and these other people have been stabbed by this man in the course of the incident. they arejust stabbed by this man in the course of the incident. they are just moving some of the buses away from the scene some of the buses away from the scene here in streatham high road as you are talking to as they are, as that investigation continues to stand the road behind us. lots of

scenes of crime officers there at the scene. what news is there about the scene. what news is there about the three members of the public who we re the three members of the public who were stabbed by the assailant before he was shot dead? more detail on that. the statement says that as well as the suspect been pronounced dead at the scene, two people were stabbed, a third person also received minor injuries, believed to have been caused by a glass following the discharge of the police firearm. that hit a window or something like that and has come cascading down on that woman. so far as their conditions are concerned, the statement says that three victims have been taken to south london hospitals. one man is being treated as life—threatening. one woman has non—life—threatening injuries and another woman has minor injuries and another woman has minor injuries and another woman has minor injuries and the statement goes on to say my thoughts are with victims and their loved ones at this time. what more do we know about the sequence what more do we know about the sequence of events? it hasn't been laid out clearly there by the police but there is a lot of talk about some of car incident before all of

this unfolded here on streatham high road. yes, and in two separate locations. the first incident appears to be about half a mile down this way there is a very large park called streatham common. we have had reports there was a major incident there as far as a police car stopping another car in what is called a hard stop, some sort of incident, moments before what happened here. it is not clear if it is related or not. in any case, events and to where we are. we had this man at the boots store down the street here with a knife. whether he has brought the knife himself, whether he has gone into bits and grab the knife because he is being trailed by surveillance officers, we don't know. it then follows that these two stabbings we now know to place. the man then cruelly comes out onto the pavement because that is where the shooting takes place. we had many eyewitnesses say they heard three shots. we have not had that confirmed by police. the officers themselves then put on

their caps to reveal that they are police officers and then at that point the man is lying on the floor. some video i have seen earlier appears to show the man alive at that point. it is not clear whether he died at the scene or died later in hospital, but the man was declared dead. the three people involved were taken to hospital, as we have now heard. two of those were stabbed wins, one at life—threatening, and this other woman somehow injured by shattered glass as a result of the police firing their weapons. duncan, for the moment, thank you. we will talk to you again in a moment. let's hear from some of the eyewitnesses we have been talking to throughout the day here in streatham. of course, this is a very busy road normally on a sunday afternoon, lots of people out shopping, lots of cars driving along this dual carriageway. these are some of the eyewitnesses we talk to earlier.

we just live over there and we just heard some cars and we hear them quite often coming down this road, but there seemed to be a lot more and then our friends who also live above us said they heard some shots. i think they said about three orfour went off, so, yeah, that was around... do you know what time that was? probably around 2pm? two—ish, yeah. we had just come back from going to the shops and... yeah, it's a bit scary. i heard that it was a shooting, that somebody was stabbing people and they have to shoot him. and what else? nothing more. how many shots did you hear? about three. and what happened then? what did you do? ijust run, run for my life. how frightening was that? very frightening. i'm still shaking. some of the eyewitnesses there. of course, this is a very diverse, multicultural area of london. the local council are just telling us this is a real melting pot where you

hear dozens of different languages being spoken to and he was celebrating that and saying it is a tragedy that there has been an incident of this kind happening here and the local mp, the local labour mp, telling us this is very much a community that is in shock at the moment. a lot of people were told by the police that they had to get back, stay in the shops and homes that has this incident unfolded. let's talk to duncan kennedy again, our corresponding to has been here throughout the afternoon. the area now very quiet as a police investigation continues, but absolutely shocking for anyone who was here to see and witness what happened and to hear those three gunshots. awful. a lot of londoners live with the idea of knife attacks. thatin live with the idea of knife attacks. that in itself is terrifying but you have gone a tax on a sunday afternoon on a major street when people are out shopping and enjoying themselves is genuinely frightening and awful. and indeed that is reflected in the people we have spoken to. i spoke to one woman who was literally shaking. she didn't see the incident. she heard the

shots and came running round the corner when i shots and came running round the corner when i came across shots and came running round the corner when i came across her and she said, ijust ran. she said that instinctive thing to do. i asked her how she was and she said, i'm terrified. she didn't want to speak and she was maybe going into some sort of minor shock. you can imagine this whole thing here on a busy high street. i use to live along here if you use ago and it is a wonderful area, streatham, lots of cafe is, lots of shops and a cinema. there is also that beautiful parquet mention, streatham common, where that other incident unfolded. there were people out jogging incident unfolded. there were people outjogging and incident unfolded. there were people out jogging and walking incident unfolded. there were people outjogging and walking their dogs, very typical sunday afternoon, but tonight reduced to this calmness because of the police activity that is taking place, lots of scenes of crime, people there taking photographs, people in their white boiler suits during that meticulous investigation that follows these kinds of incidents. we all know that the incident unfolded in a matter of

seconds and the investigation