Four Stabbed Near Covent Garden, Suspect Held
A woman remained in custody on Thursday after four men were stabbed in an attack near Covent Garden in central London. All four were taken to hospital, and police said they were treating the incident as linked to mental illness rather than terrorism. The attack, in one of the capital’s busiest districts, prompted a large emergency response.
The stabbing unfolded in a crowded tourist quarter, sending shoppers and workers fleeing as armed officers and paramedics converged. Police moved quickly to reassure the public that they were not seeking anyone else and did not believe the attack was terror-related. Incidents of this kind, though rare, fuel unease about knife crime and about the strain on mental-health services, an issue the government has just moved to address. The victims’ conditions were not immediately clear. Watch for the charges brought and any account of what led to the attack.