if‘ai‘it that have from some of the people that have seen it and some analysis to. you been watching bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines at 7:00pm. this is bbc news. terrorism in the heart of westminster .—.a vehicle anthnife, attack has left four people, including a police officer, dead. eyewitnesses say a car "mowed down" pedestrians outside parliament. and 20 others have been injured. further up there was another body. when i looked over the side of the bridge, there appeared to be it's believed a short time after, the attacker stabbed a police officer outside parliament — who has since died the attacks-“was 91925 he is also known to be one of the number who have died. the prime minister was in parliament but is now back in downing street — she will chair an emergency cobra meeting tonight —

as the investigation continues. we now have an ongoing operation, and whilst we currently believe there was only - attacker, i'm and whilst we currently believe ther the 5 only - attacker, i'm and whilst we currently believe ther the public. attacker, i'm and whilst we currently believe ther the public will attacker, i'm and whilst we currently believe ther the public will unésrgsi'zfi'n and whilst we currently believe ther the public will lingerie? us sure the fiufiiifi wiii understand us' every precaution in sure the éufiiii wiii understand ii; every precaution in locking taking every precaution in locking w. ,, . . . e down and taking every precaution in locking w. w . . . c down and the area??? " and exhaustively as thoroughly and exhaustively as possible. i'm reporting live from the edge of the % co=ei and the edge of the police cord and in ‘ where there the edge of the police cord and in ‘where there is intense police activity tonight. police are warning the public to remain vigilant this morning. good evening and welcome to bbc news. after what the metropolitan police described as a terror incident. four people are known to have died

including an attacker. 20 people have been injured. a police officer was killed inside the parliamentary grounds. here's what we know so far. an attacker is reported to have run down several pedestrians on westminster bridge before crashing into railings. this is where a woman died. others suffered "catastrophic" mag-nee arse—filo; — — —— — . — — —— —— —— — w of the palace of westminster and stabbed the police officer. the officer has died from his injuries. eyewitnesses said the attacker was shot by police as he approached a second officer carrying a knife. during the attack, mps in the house of commons were told to lie has released a statement saying: the thoughts of the pm and the government are with those killed and injured in this appalling incident, and with their families. ben brown is in westminster this

evening. q are. at ben brown is in westminster this evening. q are - at the edge of evening. we are just at the edge of the police cordon that has been i.i.~ we wi. www-w e.».—w*.i.—w*wi.—wwi. w ww established ee we. e..i eweeee wwiwwiwwi. e. w- established ever ee we e..i ee-eeee ee-eiew-iwwi- e. w- established ever since eie we e..i ee-eeee ee-eiew-ie-ww-ie e. w- established ever since this incident happened, a lotogf" established ever since this incident happened, a lot (if police activity happened, a lot of police activity still. police cars are racing around the streets nearby, we can hear police helicopters in the sky and ambulances are moving around quickly well. the police are saying they 5—25. 551—4! tie:— s‘"‘; 2”; ::-—* +194; . . ~ 525. 551—4! tie:— s‘"‘; 2”; ::-—* “9:55 . . ~ putting 5—25. 5.55!! t‘e5 55"5 5'5 55-—5 i51-5555 5 5 ~ putting on 5—25. 555!! t‘e5 55"5 5'5 55-—5 i51-5555 5 5 ~ putting on the of the capital this evening, street a? the caaiiai ‘thie eve’m’nfi. are warning the public to they are warning the public to they are asking the remain vigilant. they are askingthe for any information about public for any information about this incident, whether. saw thie ir‘ecieer‘et. hethethe 53 it. , 5 , , 5 ~ ~ thie ir‘ecieer‘et. hethethe 53 it. 5 5 5 5 5 55 55 555515? they took thie ir‘ecieer‘et. hethethe 53 it. 5 5 5 5 5 55 55 55515? they took gjj-5f they whether they took pictures, they wa nt whether they took pictures, they want that information. the latest we haveis want that information. the latest we have is g people have died, have is four people have died, including the attacker and as many as 20 people have been injured. many of them being treated at st thomas' hospital, including three french schoolchildren. in terms of what

happened at westminster, mps and peers and other workers were on lockdown for a number of hours. they've been moved from the palace of westminster to westminster abbey to safety, and some office workers we've just been talking to have now been allowed out of the cordoned area. they've been allowed to go home from this area of westminster that has been on lockdown. our first report tonight is from our political editor, laura kuenssberg who has been inside parliament. run. move. go. gunshots. the shouts around the. . .. .. . ,, the centre of our government. normally, a safe place. not today. members of the public, politicians, the hundreds of staff for whom this is work, in politics, but some, there are at least

a couple of hundred people this is the heart of where westminster does its business a police officer has told me one man was shot at the front, this is a place that is tightly guarded at all times, but a sense of shock, finally it appears something so serious has happened right here in the heart of westminster. inside, everything unclear. 0rder. then in a chamber that sat through all sorts

of situations, work interrupted. there has been a serious incident within the estate. it seems that a police officer has been stabbed. that the alleged assailant was shot by armed police. an air ambulance is currently attending the scene to remove the casualties. there are also reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity of the palace of westminster, but i hope colleagues on all sides will appreciate, that it will be wrong of me here to go into further details until we have confirmation from the police and from the house security authorities about what is going on. as the seriousness of the attack began to spread, mps told me they heard three or four i - j ——-5 5 w 0thers saw with their eyes, from their office windows.

we saw a thickset man in black clothes come through the gates this manfiad'something in'his'hanlfi we could see the man in black moving his arm in a way that one of the policemen ran to get help, which was very, very quick to come. two plainclothes guys with guns shouted at him. uttered - . what sounded like a warning. i heard what i thought

wasjust a collision. and then i looked out the window of the taxi and i saw someone down, obviously in great distress. then i saw a second person down and i started filming and i saw three more people down, one of them bleeding profusely. so what i saw was an incident involving at least five people seriously injured. i was just walking across the bridge when suddenly a bus stopped, people were screaming and came off the bus and they seemed very upset. 0n the other side of the road 0n the other side of the bridge, there appeared to be a body

in the water as well. a car and driver intent on taking the lives of those who came to see. what is normally a safe circle, the most tightly guarded part the counter terrorism command are carrying out a full—scale investigation into the - today. investigation into the events today. attack started when a car was the attack started when a car was driven over westminster bridge, hitting and injuring a number of members of the public, also including three police officers on their way back from a commendation including three police officers on their way i:the ‘rom a commendation including three police officers on their way i:the can a commendation including three police officers on their way i:the can a com nearition including three police officers on their way i:the can a com near to)n ceremony. the car crashed near to i=55535555 and at ceremony. the car crashed near to e§i§:f:iand at '53“‘ one 5 5 5 5 5 55 5 ceremony. the car crashed near to {55:55 and at '53“‘ one man, 5 5 5 55 5 féfliéfiéfif- éfifi éf- lee??- fifié- fiéfig with a knife, continued the armed with a knife, continued the attack and tried to enter parliament. sadly i can confirm that ‘four people have died. that the police officer who was includes the police officer who was protecting parliament, and one man we believe to be an attacker who was

shot by a police firearms officer. was this one who was responsible? so much is unclear. police and the government are considering there's attack as the most serious of its kind. for an attack to stop democracy, not just politicians who came to work, but hundreds of people to visit and be part of this place. i have been here with a group of students and we are in a building which is close to the riverside and quite near where the attack took place. little did they know what kind of situation would unfold. it's still very ha rd to situation would unfold. it's still very hard to believe what's happened here today. an attack, that in theory, many expected to come to london again one day, but the truth of an event like this in practice, a shock in our parliament, a shock in our country. laura kuenssberg reporting.

prime minister was in the palace of westminster when it happened and was whisked away, driven - to whisked away, driven straight to downing street. we gather this evening she is chairing a meeting of cobra, the government's emergency committee. there is expected to be the home secretary amber there. we do not yet - the full impact of this terrible incident. i know that the whole will of this terrible incident. i know that the whole - will be that the whole countryjuijli-aei thinking and praying for those who are affected, as i am. i want to thank the emergency services for the quick response, and pay tribute to their bravery, their courage and their bravery, their courage and their professionalism. i've been briefed by the met police and by the security services, and the security minister has also 7... 7, security services, and the security minister has also been 7... 7, security services, and the security minister has also been updated. 75 security services, and the security minister has 2 been updated. this = minister has also been updated. this is an ongoing incident, and the government will continue to be updated. the prime minister will

chair cobra today. the government's top priority is the security of its people. and i urge everyone to remain calm, but to be vigilant, and if they see anything they are concerned about, they should report it to the police. we have the best the best security services police, the best security services in the world, and we must make sure that we let them get on with doing theirjob. the british people will be united in working ‘to be united in working together to defeat those who would harm our shared values. by use of democracy, tolerance, and the rule of law. —— values of democracy. values symbolised by the houses of parliament, values that will never be destroyed. that was the home secretary amber rudd speaking a while ago. we expect

that cobra meeting to get under way shortly. let's speak now to professor michael professor professor michael clarke, professor of defence studies and a security expert. what are the implications of expert. what are the implicationspi the authorities have this attack? the authorities have been expecting something like this for some time. this is - the for some time. this is only the third successful attack since 2001, the 911 attacks themselves. in a way, we've been - for this way, we've been waiting for this data arrive and it's arrived. it's pretty gruesome but it - have pretty gruesome but it could have a lot 555 if 5 5 5 55—5 pretty gruesome but it could have a lot 555 if you 5 55—5 pretty gruesome but it could have a lot 555 if you drive 5—5 pretty gruesome but it could have a lot 555 if you drive a 5—5 been a lot worse. if you drive a truck into a group of tourists, you could kill a great and could kill a great number, and trying something in the palace of westminster, this gentleman who allegedly committed the attack have a havea gun, have a gun, it was a knife. didn't have a gun, it was a knife. it could have been a lot worse. we