Terror incident declared in London after two Jewish men stabbed in Golders Green

Two men aged 76 and 34 have been stabbed in a confirmed terror attack in Golders Green, north London.

A shocking video shows the first victim appearing to put on his skullcap just seconds before a suspect lunges at him with what appears to be a blade.

There is no lead-up to the attack or words exchanged before the suspect in a coat and backpack, attacks the man in Highfield Avenue at around 11.15am.

Shortly after the footage, the attacker is confronted by a member of Shomrim who stares down the suspect.

Footage later appears to show the man walking towards police in the middle of the road as officers shout ‘Put the knife down’.

He is tackled to the floor and kicked in the head by officers but keeps a firm grip on what appears to be a small knife in his hand.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor confirmed the attack has been formally declared a terrorist incident.

He said: ‘This has now formally been declared a terrorist incident. Our highly specialised teams of officers are working with the Metropolitan Police to progress this investigation quickly and establish exactly what has happened.

‘We’re also working with our partners in the security services to ensure we have a full intelligence picture, and one of the lines of inquiry is whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community in London.’

A source told Metro the alleged attacker had ID on him with a ‘Muslim name’.

Emergency services were called to Highfield Avenue at 11.16am today.

Two men were taken to hospital with stab wounds where they remain in a stable condition.

Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer-led security force, said: ‘One male was seen running along Golders Green Road armed with a knife and attempting to stab Jewish members of the public.

‘Shomrim responded immediately and detained the suspect. Police attended and deployed a taser.

‘The male has now been arrested. Two victims have been stabbed and are being treated by Hatzola. The suspect is in custody.’

Vahid Baghi, who looks after the nearby memory wall which was targeted in an arson attack two days ago saw the aftermath of the stabbing.

He told Metro: ‘It was chaos I was driving along and people were running for their lives. One guy had a leg injury. It was chaos. In these times it’s so frightening. Someone set fire to the memory wall and now this it’s so scary.’

Chaim Kesselman said: ‘We don’t feel protected, we are scared. These attacks make me feel sick.’

‘In these times it’s so frightening’

One eyewitness, who works in a plumbing shop next to where the stabbing took place, has described what he saw.

‘I saw a black guy, not sure if he was African or Middle Eastern, just trying to stab anybody who looked Jewish and ended up stabbing at least one guy in the neck.

‘Our shop has CCTV of the whole incident so I am asking for it so we can hand it over to the police.’

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: ‘It is deeply concerning to everyone in this House.

‘There is now a police investigation and we need to do everything we can to support that investigation and be absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offences, the likes of which we’ve seen too much recently.’

The Community Security Trust said: ‘There has been a knife attack today in Golders Green. The suspect has been arrested.

‘We are working closely with the police and urge anyone with information to contact the police, Shomrim.’

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.’

What has the police said?

Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in the area, said: ‘Our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific attack. We are grateful to officers who swiftly Tasered and arrested the suspect before he could cause further harm.

‘We are aware of the significant distress and concern this incident is likely to cause in the face of a number of incidents in the local area. A suspect is in custody, and investigators are considering all possible motives.

‘Officers will remain at the scene for some time to carry out further enquiries, speak to local people and offer reassurance.’

It comes after an October 7 memorial wall in the area was vandalised just yesterday.

Counter-terror police are investigating an attempt to set fire to the wall in Golders Green, north London, in the early hours of Monday morning.

A ‘man dressed in black’ was said to have set fire to part of the memorial before fleeing.

The wall has pictures of people killed in the October 7th attack in Israel, as well as the thousands of protestors who were killed during anti-regime protests in Iran in January.

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