this is bbc news, i'm ben brown live in south london. the headlines at eight. 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. a hoax device was strapped to his body. three people are hurt, with one man in a life—threatening condition. police are treating it as a terrorist incident, and have said they believe it to be "islamist related" 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. welcome to bbc news, with continuing coverage you can see this anomaly busy dual carriageway has been completely closed off by police after the terrorist incident as they describe it that unfolded around 2pm. aug police investigation under way, about 100 yards behind you or what that happened after lunchtime. at

the time it was very busy with lots of shoppers, two people were stabbed by an assailant and the police then undercover plainclothes police who it is believed had been carrying out surveillance operation on a suspect then followed the suspect and carried out those stabbings, opened fire after a brief warning, fired three shots and kill outside boots pharmacy just down the three shots and kill outside boots pharmacyjust down the road from here. it is now clear there was a police surveillance operation of this suspect. what we are also feeding is one of the stab victims has a life threatening injuries, is being treated in hospital. two other people also in hospital, one also stabbed with lesser injuries and one person has minor injuries, hit by

broken glass that was shattered as the police fired those billets at the police fired those billets at the suspect. the prime minister has thanked emergency services, ambulances were here on scene quickly, the first paramedics arrived on the scene just four minutes after they were called at 1:58pm. it is clear also the undercover police officers wear on the scene following this man, opening fire on him and killing him in what police have described as a terrorist incident and islamist related. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy reports. these were the chaotic scenes in the immediate 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy reports. 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. 0ur correspondent

duncan kennedy reports. 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. we have had from police that the man who was shot i plainclothes undercover police officers was wearing a device which turned out to bea wearing a device which turned out to be a hoax device. quite a few eyewitnesses filmed footage of the attack and police following that suspect and shooting him. earlier i spoke to local business owner karker tahir, he told me what he saw: i work in streatham high street and this afternoon, around 2 o'clock, at a busy time, i see people panicking and screaming, and i see a young guy was walking on the pathway and wearing some stuff and behind him some plainclothed officers with a gun are chasing him for a few

yards and then they want him to stop and they had to shoot him at least... i heard three bangs in front of the pharmacy. this was in front of boots? yes, boots, yes, that is correct. what did the man look like? was he carrying a knife at that stage, some sort of knife? 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. but i did not see a knife. and what was the distance that they were chasing? it was one officer you believe 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. so three plainclothes officers, not in uniform? no, i did not know they were officers. i thought maybe some whatever. but until they shot him, then they bring on...

they were wearing their hat. they were pulling 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 on the scene, and even we see a sniper came to here because in the time 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 perhaps three shots fired. i heard three shots but i have seen police with a pistol chasing him. and were they shouting at him when they were chasing him? did you hear them shout anything? i heard shouts 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 don't know. i just thought it was another day in london with a gunshot, but obviously it was police and then i now know there was a bomb on him as well. what was going through your mind when this was unfolding? were you frightened ? of course, i am still shocked. even now i don't believe it

because a place like streatham, on a sunday, a busy time, i never thought that would happen, but people were screaming and panicking at that time, including me. i had to leave the area as soon as possible. and what were you doing when all of this unfolded? it was a normal day with my work. and i am shocked, actually, still. i don't know how to describe it. it was shocking. you work here on streatham high road ? yes, i work opposite where he had been shot and that is where i work and, yeah, i still don't believe it happened here. and other people, what was their reaction in the aftermath of all of this? there was a lot of people in the bus stop and you see, in the high street, 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 normal. literally that far. and how do you feel now, having witnessed all of this? ifeel like i am shocked, to be honest. i am still shaking, but now i feel 0k. i don't know how to describe it. you know, shocking.

but the police did act very decisively, very quickly. are you grateful for that because we know that three people, it is now confirmed, were stabbed ? i didn't know, but the police were over there soon. it was very quick response. they were all over, actually. and what about the ambulances? how quickly did they get to the scene? i have no idea because we had the police telling me and everyone behind me, move back, because if that go off, 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 bomb or some sort of suicide vest? there was an officer with a uniform that 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 what i saw. and now my car is there and i don't know what is happening down there. you have a business on the high road? i work there. i work as a barber. oh, you work as a barber, 0k. it is a very busy day, sunday.

and so all of this unfolded just a few yards from where you work? it was from here to that side. it was a normal day. i don't know how to feel about it. it is shocking. and so the first you heard was really when this... what alerted you to the situation? what was it, a noise that made you look out into the street? i saw this lady, she walk with a baby, running into the middle of the street and then i saw people and i said, what is that? and i saw this young guy, the one who got shot, he was coming in that direction and behind him, a normal person. i never thought he was police. three people, actually, with a pistol, telling him, wait, stop, and they had to shoot him. literally that far. and the lady that you saw, do you think that was one of the people who had been stabbed? i don't know but she was with a baby. a lady with a baby walking in that direction and that is where she was coming to, that street direction, and that guy was running straight to the boots direction. 0k. and what sort of community is it here in streatham?

it is very diverse. harmony. everybody knows each other. it is a very nice community. but this thing, everybody here is surprised it happened here. and we don't know why. how it could possibly happen here. we don't know. since i did that interview we have heard from the police that there was that hoax device on the body of the mind that they shot just outside boots pharmacy, we also emit of clarification on the injured, be no two people were stabbed, one has life—threatening injuries, the other person not so seriously ill and the third person who was injured was actually injured by it seems shattered glass which was broken when police fired one of the billets that had some glass. we have heard from another eyewitness and i am going to deduce what that has been

telling us, john who was a nabob of nearby, he says he heard a woman scream and saw her stabbed, she held her head and neck, he was not sure what the stab wound was but she had a baby in a pushchair and also to young children with her. that's what we heard from john and also from another eyewitness that the attacker went into a shop, the low price store and stole a kitchen knife, for pounds kitchen knife, took it from its packaging and carried out the stabbing with that 3—part 99 knife he had stolen. let's also talk no to duncan kennedy who has been here throughout the afternoon and evening, already quiet now but i 2pm

there was chaos unfolding. terrorist incident unfolding on what isa terrorist incident unfolding on what is a major artery going into central london. here we would not normally be able to stand here, two lanes of traffic in each direction. let's ta ke traffic in each direction. let's take stock of what we know no, it can from the metropolitan police, the deputy assistant commissioner, it all unfolds at 2pm when stabbings ta ke it all unfolds at 2pm when stabbings take place at or inside the book store along here. one hand already out some counterterrorism officers, we are not being told why they were here apart from the fact we understand was part of a much wider surveillance operation, not just some random idea of them are walking along streatham highroad at the time, it was a wide ongoing operation. you get the two

stabbings, immediately after police stepped in and shoot the suspect, we know it was outside because we saw the video for days eyewitnesses and we saw the man's body on the pavement. he was declared dead at the scene, the police then discover on his body what appears to be a device. quickly they established was a hoax device and from various photographs we have seen it appears to be at sober canisters are strapped around his body made to look like a device, police quickly established that was a hoax then also tell us this man, terrorist incident is declared and this man has is a missed boat has islamist connection. so far as injured people are concerned, two of them must add, not the father was inside or outside the shop, one was a man with serious and life—threatening injuries, another a woman with non—life—threatening injuries and the third person from last police

statement was injured somehow by a glass from a police firearm being discharged. whether that is glass on top of some sort of ricochet we do not know, her injuries are said to be minor, soon after that all this was shut off in the incident declared. there were some clues before all of this unfolded that there may have been some sort of surveillance operation of the suspect? yes, this unrelated incident that is not contained in the statement tonight but has come from other eyewitnesses. that takes place not appearfor the eyewitnesses. that takes place not appear for the stabbings took place but about half a mile down they are on something called streatham common, a grass park area where people would be walking their dogs, a lovely mail day in london, there would have been families and what have you. there appears to have been some kind of hard police stop, police vehicle has intercepted

another vehicle quite aggressively. possibly even a collision, metal on metal, yet to be confirmed. whether thatis metal, yet to be confirmed. whether that is related, whether the man has driven up here or run away, the police have chased him to this incident, that is the bit we are not clear on. that is not contained in the statement. if not it is a great coincidence. if it is, it feeds into the wider picture there was some kind of surveillance operation going on. perhaps they were following this man puts my car, perhaps they were keeping tabs on him, we do not know, but by the time he got here he has this device on him. whether this was his intended target or whether he was en route to something, something major was going on and as soon as they did intervene, this man was stopped. tell us about this area of south london, streatham highroad, bustling on a sunday afternoon. you're used to live around here, it is an area of massive diversity?

vibrant, next to brixton, it has very much its own identity. we are ina big very much its own identity. we are in a big high street with all the shops and restaurants. there is a cinema long heat as well. buying from the high street, immediately it is all residential. you have every kind of living accommodation possible from flats when i used to live two very smart and expensive detached houses. it attracts all kinds of people and the place would have been tight. it always is, it is a very busy road, streatham highroad, not only because of the traffic but the things to do. there area traffic but the things to do. there a re a cafe traffic but the things to do. there are a cafe is in cinemas, you could go for a walk in streatham common. from the eyewitness videos, you can see that many people were caught up in this. you have read statements from eyewitnesses seeing what they saw. i spoke to woman and said she was terrified. she heard the shooting and when i got to a few moments later, she was shaking. people are not used to these things. people are not used to these things. people see and hear about stabbings

in london, but in terms of shootings, incredibly rare. lots of people have been shaken by this event today. duncan kennedy, thank you, our corresponded in streatham. earlier i spoke to our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford who told me his impressions about police operations at the scene. well, i got herejust a couple of hours or so after the shooting itself. that was what first of all caught people's attention and we seem to have three different things which have happened which may or may not be linked. i've spoken to woman who described a very dramatic scene near streatham common, where a police car, an unmarked police car, pulled across in front of a small blue car, effectively a hard stop on that car and lots of armed officers arriving. that seems to be the first thing that happened. a bit later, we have spoken to a man who witnessed somebody rushing up to somebody and fighting somebody about 300

metres further down the road, and leaving somebody apparently bleeding from stab wounds. and then a bit after that, we have spoken to people who see somebody who is being followed by three men who suddenly pull handguns and shoot him and then after they have shot him, they then put on some police caps and it becomes clear that they were actually undercover police officers. we are thinking at the moment that those three things are perhaps all linked and somehow somebody was stopped, escaped, was then being followed by undercover officers, has maybe done some attacking and was then shot but obviously we have not got to the point where the police have confirmed that all those three things are linked. we are hoping we will hear from scotland yard later this evening. if, and it is a big if at the moment, if this was some sort of undercover surveillance operation, these are always very difficult for the police, aren't they, if they are following a suspect, when to intervene and apprehend a suspect who is thought to be

a danger to society? you have got two kinds of armed officers potentially involved. the people who essentially follow people, and sometimes those people carry weapons, either for their own protection or in case of something happening that is unexpected. they would be people carrying handguns. it looks at this stage as though they are the people that shot the suspect dead. soon after that, you can then get the armed response officers turning up with the much larger guns that people are perhaps more used to seeing, so it looks as if, if this person was under surveillance, it was not an expectation that something terrible was about to happen but the officers were ready to deal with it when it did. that is what it looks like at the moment, otherwise you would expect more overtly armed officers to have been there from the start, as it were. again, unconfirmed reports from some eyewitnesses that there was some sort of silver canisters on this man when he was shot, maybe some sort

of suicide vest but again that is not clear at the moment. one of the eyewitnesses we have spoken to is very clear that this man was wearing some sort of vest, as he put it. he did not describe the vest, he was slightly unclear about the vest but he was very clear that after the officers had shot the man, they then took a closer look and told members of the public to get back, so certainly that would fit with the possibility that he was wearing something that may have looked like some kind of suicide vest. that is as far as we can go on that, that one of the eyewitnesses felt that the police officers had seen something and had told the public to get back much more urgently than they had previously done when they originally shot the man. daniel sandford, home affairs correspondent. i have also been talking to jonathan correspondent. i have also been talking tojonathan bartley.

he is the co—leader of the green party and local councillor for streatham, he lives just around the corner and told me what happened. i asked him when he first realised that an incident was unfolding?. i was literallyjust in my house, about to make lunch. my partner went out, just to get some additional items and there was a shout and a woman said, there has been a shooting, and 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 then, of course, when the police then said, very, very quickly that this was a terror—related incident, you know, an absolute stunned community, believing that this could happen in streatham. we celebrate our diversity. you can walk down the high road, i have done for 20 years on a sunday afternoon, and you will hear dozens of different languages being spoken, different accents, and it is one of the things that makes streatham great. we celebrate that

inclusivity, that diversity. right down where it happened, there is a synagogue. further down is the mosque then the two churches, the catholic and the anglican church next door to each other. this is a wonderful melting pot of different vibrant communities. you know, 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 ? it does seem that this man was being followed by police, there was some sort of undercover surveillance operation that led up to this? a lot of eyewitnesses and friends saying the police were here incredibly quickly, you know, they were here almost as the incident was unfolding in great numbers. plainclothes officers as well as uniformed officers, and of course, police with guns and weapons. there was the big question mark. that now seems to have been very recently answered. it seems they were following the suspect from streatham common which is just down there. lots of reports of a car, a bmw, some people describing it, people

not sure whether it was the attacker or the police that got out of that car. great gratitude to the police for getting here so quickly and to the emergency services for all they have done, but also questions about if this man was under surveillance by the police, what exactly happened and what was going on? three members of the public, we gather, have been attacked and stabbed and are in hospital. one with life—threatening injuries. yes, i gather that there is one particular person that is right on the edge and three people, of course, really hurt. streatham is at its best at a moment of crisis. over the years, certainly in its institutional memory, the second world war, it comes together at moments like this and i think the whole community of streatham will want to send their thoughts and prayers to everyone who has been affected by it, particularly the three people in hospital right at this moment. tomorrow, i expect to see on the street, the police have a lot of work to do, but when this opens up again, i expect to see a return

to that feeling of safety, actually, and celebration of inclusion. that sense that we will not be defeated by fear. when we come out, we are strong and united, we can overcome fear, and actually, those that perpetrate this kind of incident want to spread fear and we can overcome it by standing together. jonathan bartley, jonathan ba rtley, the jonathan bartley, the green party co—leader. also the green party councillor for this word in streatham, who lives just off the high road. people have been shocked by what happened today. for a time the whole area was on lockdown. people were being told by police to stay inside their shops and homes and flats. while the police dealt with the situation. it was a frightening experience for lots of people, not only to see the victims of the stabbings, but also to hear the gunshots ringing out in streatham highroad. a terrifying experience. lots of people coming to terms with that. i have also been

talking to the local mp for streatham. she told me this is a very diverse area, and it has been shocked by this terrorist —related incident this afternoon. firstly, our prayers and thoughts go out to those who are injured and their families. and those who witnessed it. a very busy day for streatham highroad. there will be loads of people, including children going to the cinema and shops with families, who may have witnessed what happened which could be traumatic for them. as far as we know, two individuals have been stabbed, one quite seriously. we hope that they pull through soon. the perpetrator was shot dead by police. the police and the emergency services have been fantastic and the response. they got your quite quickly, responded to the incident, taking down the perpetrator, who as you may know, they had been watching for some time. hopefully we will hear more

information about that tomorrow. there is not much more out there. just to say to the people streatham, the police have the situation under control. the area will be cordoned off for some time but hopefully the road will be back to normal by tomorrow. do not be afraid. it is a scary thing to happen. this is my home as well. i feel devastated by what has happened but if we show fear and feed into those divisions in society, the terrorists have won. is your information that this happened inside the shop down their? that is where the attacker struck?|j heard that is where the attacker struck?” heard it was just outside. details are quite sketchy. i suppose who has been injured is more important than the exact specific tees off when it happened. —— the exact specifics. i heard it was just outside on the high road, just outside boots. just

outside boots. your understanding is the attacker was somebody who was known to the police and the authorities? again, that is something that has been put into the public domain. the police will no doubt comment on that further and it is more appropriate for them to give a proper response to the situation. the police acted swiftly to apprehend this man. they have done a sterling job today and protected us in streatham. after that happened, people had to stay inside their shops and flats and homes. that must have been frightening for anyone living around here, especially having heard the gunshots?” living around here, especially having heard the gunshots? i have heard from lots of people who were very scared. some friends and collea g u es very scared. some friends and colleagues who are right outside the incident heard it happen and rushed straight back to where they were. i cannot imagine how they felt. there would have been loads of people like myself, normal sunday afternoon, coming back from church come on their way to the most, they would not have expected this to happen.

the response was swift and people we re the response was swift and people were either as to go back into their shops and homes and stay there until the situation was under control. it shows the best of our emergency services in dealing with the situation. this busy road is closed off. do you know how long it will ta ke to off. do you know how long it will take to reopen and for things to get back to normal? we need to wait for the police to do their full investigation, that is the right thing to do, but from what they have said, how long it is a piece of string questioning hopefully by tomorrow, we will resume normal service and i think that should be possible. we can hear a helicopter hovering above. what is your message to the people in this community of streatham that you represent? this isa streatham that you represent? this is a pretty shocking incident?m streatham that you represent? this is a pretty shocking incident? it is shocking, but 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 on swiftly to protect us and if we continue in

that field or continue to be divided by things like this, the terrorists have i would say to everybody, it is very scary, i feel that for myself, but from tomorrow, hopefully things will be back to normal. we should keep those injured in our thoughts and prayers, but streatham is a resilient community, and i am sure we will be fine. the local mp for streatham talking to mea the local mp for streatham talking to me a little earlier. let's sum up what we know about what has happened here on streatham highroad this afternoon before 2pm, this man who was shot by police carried out a stabbing, according to an eyewitness run intoa stabbing, according to an eyewitness run into a shop and stole a kitchen knife for £4, then was pursued by undercover police officers who had been carrying out a surveillance operation on him, shouted a warning to him to stop, he did not