Horrified witnesses to City of London bloodbath saw three ‘have-a-go heroes’ running past shops shouting ‘oi oi’ to stop masked gang from snatching worker’s phone before they were stabbed – as police scramble to track down attackers
- Three people were hospitalised after trying to prevent brazen mugging in broad daylight at around 9.45am
- Suspected gang were wearing face coverings while riding electric bikes, as police hunt at least two suspects
- It is the latest tragic incident in a wave of stabbings which has shocked the country in the last few weeks
Horrified witnesses to a multiple stabbing incident in central London on Thursday have recalled the moment three ‘have-a-go heroes’ ran past shops shouting ‘oi oi’ in a brave bid to stop a masked gang from robbing an innocent worker – before the trio were mercilessly knifed by the thugs.
Metropolitan Police are currently hunting at least two suspects involved in the City of London incident, which saw three people hospitalised and sparked a mass emergency response just yards from Liverpool Street Station at around 9.45am.
A further person was left injured after being ‘pushed to the floor’ as the bloodbath unfolded in broad daylight, in what was the latest in a wave of stabbings to have shocked the country in recent weeks.
Footage shared online showed a scuffle on the road by the 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper with smartly dressed workers seemingly being violently shoved to the ground, before four police vehicles and four ambulance vehicles were later seen arriving at the scene.
Reports from eyewitnesses suggested two thieves on electric bikes attempted to steal a worker’s mobile phone before passers-by bravely got involved in an attempt to prevent it.
Sayeed Dukanwala, 53, a shop owner, told the Times how he was alerted to the incident when he saw a ‘man run past the shop shouting, ”Oi! Oi!”’
Mr Dukanwala said: ‘Two boys on a bike, I believe, tried to nick his phone. I think [the victim] was trying to get people’s attention. I couldn’t see the boys’ faces because they wore helmets and had scarves covering their noses and mouths.
‘I left the shop and saw four or five people fighting by the traffic lights outside the skyscraper. They tried to stop one of the men on the bike but then he pulled out a knife and started stabbing them.’
Mr Dukanwala had earlier told MailOnline: ‘Something happened to me last weekend, someone hit me with the bottle inside my shop. This area is very unsafe, it’s very scary.’
A builder working nearby added: ‘A teenager was trying to snatch a phone off a middle-aged man and [he] was fighting back. Another teenager got involved, probably two to four of them.
‘They were on electric bikes. Then things escalated. That is when the middle-aged man got stabbed. Then a north African guy on a white moped got off and tried to help the white middle-aged man. He got stabbed in the back and I think the shoulder or chest.’
Ambulance crews can be seen treating two people who were injured in the botched robbery attempt
Here one of the heroes, wearing a red jacket, can be seen lying on the ground in the moments after the attack
Another eyewitness, Toby Hamand, 36, described the moment one of the attackers threatened him with a knife as he tried to prevent him escaping.
He told The Telegraph: ‘It was sort of half on the road, half on the pavement. There were people all over the place, so I got a bit closer to see what the hell was going on.
‘I pretty quickly realised that there were two guys who were wearing bandanas – they were covering their faces…
‘One of them got on a bike – it looked like he’d stolen it. He got on his bike. I kicked the wheel before he could get going to, you know, stop him from escaping.
‘And then the other guy who was also with a bike, he brandished his knife at me. He held it in his fist and sort of raised his hand up to sort of show me and I immediately was like, ‘Okay, not going anywhere near this.’. And then they just went off on their bikes.’
Images emerged in the aftermath of the stabbing showing blood on the pavement and a victim being treated by ambulance crews.
It is the latest incident in a scourge of knife crime and stabbings across London and more widely in the UK. 11,829 knife-related offences have been recorded in the last 12 months in the capital alone, without including figures from the City of London. This is up 10 per cent on the equivalent figure for the previous 12 months.
Meanwhile the number of mobile phone thefts has risen by almost 62 per cent in the last 12 months, according to data from the Metropolitan Police.
Rival gangs have been responsible for recent high-profile murders, including 17-year-old Levi Ernest Morrison, who had autism and was murdered in south London last year.
It comes just a month after a 100-person brawl broke out at a birthday party in east London after a gang wielding machetes stormed the event. 17-year-old Shea Gordon was killed in the attack.
Three Metropolitan Police officers were also injured in a vicious stabbing in broad daylight in Leicester Square last month, but luckily survived.
The horrifying moment three smartly-dressed ‘have-a-go heroes’ are stabbed while reportedly trying to stop a mugging gang on electric bikes snatching a worker’s phone
Forensic investigators begin their investigations after a mugging reportedly went wrong and ended in three people taken to hospital
Here one of the suspects can be seen grappling with a passer-by in the moments before the three victims were stabbed
The incident earlier this morning saw four people injured, of which three remain in hospital, thought to be the stabbing victims
White screens were quickly erected at the site to hide the victims from view while they received roadside treatment
Blood, paramedics’ medical bags and items of clothing could all be seen left behind at the scene after the incident
Paramedics rushed to the scene after being called at 9.52am this morning, just six minutes after the incident began
Reports on social media suggest that three people have been stabbed on Bishopsgate in central London
A large area of Bishopsgate has been cordoned off and police remain at the scene as investigations begin
Pictures from the scene show police and paramedics at work after the bloodbath, which is thought to be the result of an attempted theft
A policeman patrols at the scene of the stabbings as the City of London force says the attack is not thought to be terror-related
Police guard a crime scene on Bishopsgate following the incident earlier this morning, which saw four people taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries
Blood is seen on the pavement on Bishopsgate after a vicious attack on the streets of London this morning
The City of London police said at the time: ‘We are aware of an incident this morning on Bishopsgate.
‘Our officers are at the scene and London Ambulance are in attendance. A cordon is currently in place.’
They later added: ‘We received reports of three stabbings and a person pushed to the floor on Bishopsgate at 9.46am and officers arrived at the scene at 9.51am.
‘Three victims were taken by London Ambulance Service to a nearby hospital to be treated; they do not have life-threatening injuries.
‘Two suspects are being sought as part of the ongoing investigation related to an attempted phone theft and the incident is not being treated as terror-related.
‘Stopping phone thefts and bringing perpetrators to justice is a priority for City of London Police. The number of phone snatches is down, due to focused effort including working with colleagues in the Metropolitan Police Service last week to make several arrests.’
No arrests have been made at this time, MailOnline understands, and police are actively seeking two suspects.
A cordon, which is about 50 metres long, was yesterday being guarded by seven officers with City of London Police.
Inside the police tape, medical kits and clothing could be seen spread out on the ground in small piles.
The building of 22 Bishopsgate remained open and workers could be seen entering and leaving the premises.
The owner of a nearby shop said: ‘A guy tried to grab someone’s phone. People heard screaming and they tried to stop him, but then he punched one guy who fell on the floor.
‘Four other guys tried to stop him and he stabbed them. When he saw those four guys he took a knife out his pocket and started stabbing.’
He added: ‘The police arrived 10 or 15 minutes after, but by then he had run off. There are cameras all outside here that must have seen him.
‘The financial area is not safe anymore. Last Saturday, teenage boys attacked my uncle in a shop.’
An eyewitness has said he saw two or three teenagers on bicycles watching a middle-aged man before they grabbed him during a phone snatch robbery in the city of London.
He described the knifeman as wearing a mask.
The worker, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I saw two or three teenagers on bicycles and they were following this middle-aged man, around 40 to 50, who was smartly dressed.
‘The next thing I saw was this teenager grabbing this guy, this middle-aged man. Things escalated so quickly.
‘Pedestrians got involved and they were trying to help the middle-aged man. I heard lots of screams and shouts.
‘The next minute, a man on a white moped saw what happened and jumped off, and got himself involved.
‘There was a fight with these teenagers. Out of nowhere, the guy on the moped got stabbed. The middle-aged man was already on the floor at this point after he got stabbed and another pedestrian got hurt too, his head was hurt. The teenagers then just took off.’
He added: ‘The knifeman was wearing a mask’, describing it as a fleece mask which people wear to keep warm.
Another eyewitness said that two of those stabbed were delivery drivers and the suspects ran off in the firection of Liverpool Street Station, although that has not been officially confirmed.
Police officers carry out investigations outside 22 Bishopsgate in the City of London after the attack in broad daylight
One MailOnline reader, who did not want to be named, said his wife works near where the incident occurred and was on her way into the office as it happened.
‘The fourth guy ‘pushed to the ground’ was actually punched in the face by one of the muggers,’ he said.
‘He didn’t go to hospital but went home from work as his face was bruised badly and he was shaken,’ adding that there was ‘lots of blood on the ground’.
Forensic teams in white suits could be seen combing the area for clues and taking photographs of the area where the victims were stabbed.
London Ambulance said in a tweet: ‘We were called at 9:52am today to reports of a stabbing in Bishopsgate.
‘We sent a number of resources – three ambulance crews, two advance paramedics, two incident response officers and our Tactical Response Unit.
‘Our crews treated four patients. Three were taken to hospital and one discharged.’
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he is ‘working with’ the City of London police and he was given ‘un update straightaway.’
He told Bauer Media that there was ‘good news’ due to it not being terror-related and the three stabbing victims not being in a life-threatening condition.
‘It’s a reminder of the dangers of carrying a knife… I’m not complacent at all. I think it’s important to be tough on policing and be tough on the complex causes of crime.’
He said that London has seen a reduction in knife crime injuries and a reduction in the number of teenage homicides in the city so far this year.
Parts of the scene were left in disarray after paramedics rushed to treat the victims and get them to a local hospital
22 Bishopsgate is believed to be the tallest building in the City of London and houses multiple law firms and insurance brokers
Images online showed a large police and ambulance response to the incident
Lawless London: Three stabbed in suspected phone snatch robbery as 9,000 phone robberies reported in the last year alone
Three people have been stabbed as members of the public tried to intervene in a suspected phone snatch robbery in central London.
A group of two or three masked knifemen attacked a pedestrian just before 10am in Bishopsgate on Thursday, witnesses reported.
According to data from the Metropolitan Police, which does not include figures from the City of London, 11,829 knife-related offences have been recorded in the capital in the last 12 months alone.
This is up 10 per cent on the equivalent figure for the previous 12 months.
The number of mobile phone thefts has risen by almost 62 per cent in the last 12 months.
There have been more than 9,000 phone robberies reported to police in London in the last 12 months. This is on top of 37,150 thefts.
Today’s incident took place within the City of London, which is out of the London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s jurisdiction – but he said he is ‘working with’ City of London police.
There have been more than 9,000 phone robberies reported to police in London in the last 12 months. This is on top of 37,150 thefts.
This data does not include the City of London.
Companies in the building include insurance firms Hiscox and Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Limited, as well as law firms such as Cooley LLP and Covington & Burling LLP.
Police have so far ruled out terrorism. They added that a video, which was widely shared on social media and claimed to be footage of the attacker being arrested, was completely unrelated to the incident.
A police source told MailOnline: ‘The incident appears to be an attempted phone snatch.
‘Three members of the public intervened and were injured. One person was stabbed and two were slashed. However, their injuries are not life-threatening.’
He added: ‘There does not appear to be any link to terrorism.’
Charlotte Wright, 26, an administrator from Colchester who works nearby to the scene, has said she felt scared after hearing about the stabbing in Bishopsgate.
She was walking to work when she saw the emergency services rushing to the scene.
Ms Wright said: ‘I was walking into my office at about 9.45am and saw a load of ambulances coming by me, which was unusual.
‘I heard a bunch of police cars too. It wasn’t until it got close to my building and I saw all the blue lights and I realised that’s where they were heading to. There was a crowd around the area. It seemed like a sombre atmosphere, there was a lot of chatting and confusion. My brother then sent me an article explaining what had happened, and I realised what I saw.’
She added: ‘When I got the text from my brother, I thought ‘Oh my God, that’s way more serious than I could have imagined’.
‘I feel a bit apprehensive and scared coming out to get my lunch, but also pretty secure and safe. I know London is a very busy city and I know that if anything were to happen, unfortunately like the guys that stepped in during this incident, there are heroes willing to do that.’
Asked by reporters whether London was safe under the leadership of Mayor Sadiq Khan, Sir Keir Starmer, said: ‘I saw the news of the stabbings coming through and obviously, that’s deeply concerning for all of us.
‘Our thoughts have to be with victims and all of those affected.
‘I do think we need a joint response to all of this, to make sure we lower the crime levels across London. That is a joint and shared responsibility.
‘But there is no getting away from the fact that over the last 12 years, this Government has cut the number of police officers.
‘Yes, they’re putting some of them back now, but they haven’t been replaced the ones they’ve taken away.
‘I don’t think the Government can simply say this is somebody else’s fault, all routes lead back to the Government.
Andrea Silva told The Metro: ‘I did not see it happen. I saw from a bus.
‘There was a fair amount of blood visible but the casualties were behind a white screen. Lots of paramedics over someone on the floor. That is all I saw.’
A second eyewitness told the Evening Standard that casualties were ‘hidden behind a white screen.’
Pictures from the scene show abandoned London Ambulance medical kits as the victims were rushed to hospital.
Another tweeted: ‘Just saw about four badly injured people on the side in the road by Bishopsgate going by on the bus.’
Local MP Nickie Aiken said: ‘Concerned to learn of the incident in Bishopsgate. I’m in contact with City Police for updates. My thoughts are with all those involved including the first responders.’
As the incident took place within the City of London, this is out of the London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s jurisdiction.
A spokesperson at 22 Bishopsgate said: ‘We are aware of a distressing incident that took place this morning on Bishopsgate, in the vicinity of our building, and our security team provided the police and emergency services with any necessary support while they were on site.
‘We immediately carried out a dynamic risk assessment that determined there was no direct threat to the building and therefore have not locked down the building or prevented access to entrances.’
This latest incident is one of many horrific stabbings in England in recent weeks. A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Gateshead.
Talented footballer Tomasz Oleszak had moved to the UK from Poland ‘for a better life’ as a ‘shy’ six-year-old.
Tomasz, who lived with his mum Kamila Wisniewska and his young brother, lived on the Springwell estate for most of his life and was described as a ‘friend to so many’ by those who knew him.
On Monday, two burglars were sentenced to life in prison after they stabbed a cannabis father to death and wounded his brother in a botched raid to steal 200 plants.
The attack took place in Hounslow, west London in March last year.
And a 16-year-old boy filmed himself stabbing a 15-year-old schoolboy to death last June, and has since been jailed for at least 13 years.
Meanwhile just last week Zasheem Kane Ontre Moses was fatally stabbed on Tottenham High Road in London. Zasheem, 19, died in the arms of paramedics before he could be taken to hospital.
This story is being updated.
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