By Toby Melville and William James | LONDON
Five people were killed and about 40 injured in London on Wednesday after a car plowed into pedestrians and a suspected Islamist-inspired attacker stabbed a policeman close to Britain's parliament.
The dead, in what police called a "marauding terrorist attack," included the assailant and the policeman he stabbed. The other three victims were among those hit by the car as it sped across Westminster Bridge before crashing into railings just outside parliament.
Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the attack as "sick and depraved".
"The location of this attack was no accident," she said in a statement outside her 10 Downing Street office late in the evening.
"The terrorist chose to strike at the heart of our capital city, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech."
Any attempt to defeat those values through violence was "doomed to failure", May said.
Mark Rowley, Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officer, told reporters the attack started when a car was driven over Westminster Bridge, hitting and injuring members of the public and three police officers.
"A car then crashed near to parliament and at least one man, armed with a knife, continued the attack and tried to enter parliament," Rowley said.
He said the police's "fast-paced investigation" was working on the assumption that the attack was "Islamist-related terrorism". Police believed they knew the identity of the attacker but would not provide details at this stage, he said.
