British police say two further arrests have been made in connection with the attack outside London's Parliament that killed four people. They also gave the birth name of the man behind the rampage as Adrian Russell.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Hurley
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The UK’s top anti-terrorism officer Mark Rowley said Friday that nine people were in police custody after "significant arrests" overnight in central and northern England. One woman detained earlier was released on bail.
Authorities say 52-year-old Khalid Masood carried out Wednesday's attack on Westminster, which killed four people and wounded dozens more.
Rowley told a press conference the man's birth name was Adrian Russell Ajao and appealed to anyone with information about him to come forward.
"There might be people out there who did have concerns about Masood but did not feel comfortable for whatever reason in passing those concerns to us," he said.
Police probe motivation
Rowley told reporters police were trying to work out what the attacker's motive was, and whether other individuals had "encouraged, supported or directed him."
Police have carried out more than a dozen searches and seized some 2,700 items since the attack, including "massive amounts of computer data," Rowley added.
Two people in critical condition
Masood plowed a car into pedestrians walking along the busy Westminster Bridge on Wednesday afternoon, killing three and injuring 50 before fatally stabbing a policeman outside the parliament building. He was then shot dead by another officer.
The death toll rose to four late Thursday after a 75-year-old man identified as Leslie Rhodes died of his injuries in hospital. Two people remain in a critical condition, Rowley said, with a number of others still receiving treatment for serious injuries.
Masood, a Muslim-convert who used a number of aliases, was born in Kent, southeastern England. Although he had shown up on the intelligence radar in previous anti-terrorism investigations, he was considered to pose little threat.
Attacks on UK Houses of Parliament in London
The London Police are treating the back-to-back series of violent attacks as a "terrorist incident." The attack outside parliament killed four people, including the attacker.
Image: Reuters/E. Keogh
Shots ring out
Shortly before 15:00 UTC, multiple shots followed by screaming were reported outside London's Houses of Parliaments. Authorities rushed to the scene as the House of Commons went into lockdown. The first reports came in from political reporters barred from leaving the premises.
Image: Reuters/E. Keogh
Injuries on Westminster Bridge
A male attacker first ran down pedestrians with an SUV on Westminster Bridge, an area highly frequented by tourists. The vehicle then rammed into a gate near Big Ben.
Image: Reuters/T.Melville
Police cordon off the area
The knife-wielding assailant then fatally stabbed a police officer on Parliament's grounds. The attacker was subsequently shot and killed while authorities secured the area around the Palace of Westminster.
Image: Reuters/S. Wermuth
An attack in the heart of downtown London
Transport for London, greater London's public transport authority, diverted buses in the area of the attacks. People working in the area sought alternative routes home as traffic remained blocked at the end of the work day on Wednesday.
Image: Google Maps
International leaders react
International leaders offered their condolences following the attack. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed Germany's support for the UK "in the struggle against all forms of terrorism." The Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also expressed her sympathies as the Scottish Parliament canceled a debate on a second independence referendum.
Image: Reuters/K. Pfaffenbach
Emergency response blankets the area
Individuals present in the affected area described sirens blaring and the drone of helicopters overhead. British media reported "catastrophic injuries" while police confirmed four individuals had been killed. Another 29 people were being treated in hospital for their injuries - seven of them were critically wounded.
Image: Reuters/S.Wermuth
Police raid homes in Birmingham and London
A few hours after the attack, police made eight arrests after conducting armed raids on six homes in London and the central city of Birmingham (pictured above). The raids were part of an investigation into the Westminster attacker.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Vernalls
Attacker 'acted alone'
Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley told reporters that he believed the assailant "acted alone" and that he was "inspired by international terrorism." Prime Minister Theresa May later said the attacker was British-born and was known to authorities.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Tallis
'IS' claims attack
The militant "Islamic State" (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack later on Thursday, saying the attacker was one of its "soldiers," according to the IS Aamaq news agency. It was not immediately clear whether the attacker was directly connected to the group.
Image: Reuters/S. Wermuth
Normality is 'greatest response to terror'
Prime Minister May hailed the millions of people in London who went about their lives the day after the attack. "It is in these actions - millions of acts of normality - that we find the best response to terrorism," she said. The city will hold a candlelight vigil for the victims on Thursday evening.
