Another UK stabbing: 11-year-old girl and woman, 34, wounded in London attack; male arrested

An 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman were stabbed Monday in London's Leicester Square in the United Kingdom, police said on X.

A male has been arrested and is in custody, police said.

'I just saw a kid getting stabbed, and I just tried to save her.'

"At this stage, there is no suggestion that the incident is terror-related," police added.

The girl "will require hospital treatment, but her injuries are not life threatening," police said, adding that the woman — who also was taken to a hospital — "suffered more minor injuries."

Police also said, "We don't believe there are any outstanding suspects."

Police officers stand by a cordoned off area in London's famous Leicester Square after an 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old were stabbed, Aug. 12, 2024.Photo by BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP via Getty Images

Amid Monday's stabbing, a security guard told the Guardian he “jumped on” and took a knife from a male he said stabbed the child.

The paper added that the guard by the name of Abdullah, 29, told the PA news agency: “I heard a scream. At that moment I saw there was one person, roughly [in their] mid-30s or early 30s, and he was like stabbing a kid. I jumped on him, held the hand in which he was [carrying] a knife, and just put him down on the floor and just held him and took the knife away from him. Then a couple of more people joined as well, and we just held him until the police came; it took maybe three to four minutes for the police to arrive, and then they just took him into custody.”

You can view a video report about the incident here; it includes a clip of officers holding the apparent suspect — with his face blurred — as well as an interview with the security guard.

The Guardian reported that Joy Akan, another tour bus company worker, took video of the suspect after his arrest, and it showed he's a "lightly built man in a black T-shirt with an Abbey Road logo on the front. He was wearing black tracksuit trousers. The video was time stamped at 11.41 a.m." (6:41 a.m. EST). Numerous video clips posted to X show the purported suspect in custody without blurring his face.

The Guardian said a police cordon surrounded the double doors of the TWG Tea shop, and at least six police officers were at the scene.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Abdullah — who told the paper he's worked security at the TWG Tea shop for the past “seven to eight months” — said his colleagues gave first aid to the child before police arrived.

“I just saw a kid getting stabbed, and I just tried to save her," he told the Guardian. "It’s my duty to just save them."

Ezat Katerzis, who's with a tour bus company, told the paper the attacker appeared "mentally disturbed" and that "he just stabbed the girl out of the blue. She was with her family.”

Katerzis added to the Guardian that the girl appeared to have been stabbed near her right eye and that "blood was pouring out of her face" and that "she will survive. They picked her up, and she stood [on her] feet. They took her inside the [TWG Tea] shop, and the paramedic came.”

Katerzis also told the paper that the attacker "is only a skinny guy. He didn’t say anything when they arrested him and took him to the van. It was like he was on drugs or something. I don’t think it was a robbery. He just started stabbing her for no reason.”

Just two weeks ago, a 17-year-old male was accused of killing three and injuring numerous other victims in a July 29 mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed children's dance class in U.K. seaside town of Southport.

Officials initially said there was no evidence that terrorism was a motive in the Southport knife attack, which angered many who accused the government of covering up evidence. Police identified suspect Axel Rudakubana and charged him with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. Officials identified him as being from Cardiff but also noted that his parents are Rwandan. Unrest and violence erupted the day after the stabbings and have spread across the United Kingdom.

This is a developing news story; updates will be added.

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