U.K. Police Charge Man With Attempted Murder Over Train Stabbing
LONDON (AP) — U.K. police on Monday charged a 32-year-old man with attempted murder Mass knife attack on train The attacker, who injured 11 people, said that he also tried to kill someone at a London transit station earlier the same day.
British Transport Police said Anthony Williams was charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of causing actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article. attack on Saturday.
Police said he was also charged with attempted murder in relation to an earlier incident at London’s Pontoon Dock light rail station just before 1am on Saturday, in which “a victim was attacked with a knife and suffered facial injuries” by an attacker who fled the scene.
Police said investigators were “also looking into other possible related offences.”
Police said they did not consider the stabbings on the train as an act of terrorism and were not looking for other suspects. A second man, who was initially arrested as a suspect, was released without charge on Sunday after it was determined that the 35-year-old was not involved.
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Williams, a British citizen from Peterborough in eastern England, is expected to appear in court later Monday.
The minute-long stabbing spree sparked fear and panic on a train from Doncaster in northern England to London on Saturday evening. The train was about halfway through its journey and had just left a stop in Peterborough when police began receiving reports of people on the train being stabbed.
Passengers described scenes of panic as bloodied passengers ran down the train to get away from the knife-wielding man. The most seriously injured victim was a member of railway staff who tried to stop the attacker. The police described his actions as “ nothing but heroism.”
AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth
He is hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Williams was arrested when the train made an emergency stop in the eastern English town of Huntingdon. He was taken into custody within eight minutes of police receiving the initial emergency call, police said.
Authorities said the attack was an isolated incident but increased security on the railway, with armed police officers patrolling major train stations on Monday.
