An eyewitness has described the moment innocent bystanders rushed to stop the Golders Green attacker. A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two men – one in his 70s and one in his 30s – were stabbed in the busy area of North London this morning. A terrorist incident has been declared, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said.
Witnesses described seeing a man along Golders Green Road armed with a knife, Jewish security group Shomrim said on social media. The disturbing attack has prompted calls for action from the chief rabbi and the Israeli foreign ministry, following a series of incidents targeting Jewish sites in London.
The attack was caught on CCTV. Father-of-five Ben Grossnass, 40, who works for the security service Shomrim, told the Mirror: “The first man stabbed was walking out of a synagogue very near the one where the ambulances were burned recently. Then the attacker ran and saw an elderly man at a bus stop. He shoved the man to the ground.” Mr Grossnass added: “Heroes jumped on the attacker and overpowered him.”
CCTV from the scene shows a man in front of a bus stop when he is lunged at by a man who appears to be holding a knife. Rabbi Levi Schapiro, from Stamford Hill’s Jewish Community Council (JCC), spoke to the Mirror from the hospital where the two victims were taken minutes after the attack. He confirmed both are from his area – and that one of them is a teacher who works nearby. One victim is in a “more serious condition”, the rabbi said, and the other is “stable”.
Counter terror police are leading the investigation and working with the Metropolitan Police to establish any links to terrorism. Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Laurence Taylor said: “Whilst I must stress this investigation is at an early stage, we are working quickly to understand exactly what happened. Thank you to those who were in the area at the time and supported the response to this terrible incident.” Commissioner Laurence Taylor said one of the lines of inquiry is whether the Golders Green attack was “deliberately targeting the Jewish community”.
