British police shot a man on Friday after a number of people were stabbed in the London Bridge area of the city.
A video posted on Twitter shows a group of about half a dozen men wrestling with someone on the ground on the sidewalk of the bridge. One of them backs away from the scene carrying a knife.
As he looks back towards the melee, an armed police officer drags another person away from the man on the floor. Soon after, what sound like two gunshots ring out, and the man on the ground stops moving. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.
“One man has been shot by police,” police said. “As a precaution, we are currently responding to this incident as though it is terror-related,” they added.
Police were called at 1:58 p.m. to a stabbing at a premises near London Bridge.
“A number of people have been stabbed,” police said.
Sky News said there was at least one fatality and that the person killed was not a suspect. Reuters was unable to confirm that report.
Reuters pictures showed several police cars and buses on the bridge. Armed police, some with dogs, patrolled the surrounding streets.
The ambulance service declared what it called a “major incident” in the area and London Bridge station, a busy commuter hub, was closed.
People in buildings around the scene were evacuated to the north side of the River Thames by security services.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on his way back to Downing Street to receive updates.
He said in a statement: “I’m being kept updated on the incident at London Bridge and want to thank the police and all emergency services for their immediate response.”
London Bridge was the scene of an attack in June 2017 when three militants drove a van into pedestrians and then attacked people in the surrounding area, killing eight people.
Earlier this month, Britain lowered its national terrorism threat level to “substantial” from “severe”, its lowest level since 2014.
