Mysterious motorcycle rider stabs British soldiers
Near London, a motorcycle rider hits a soldier - and stabs him. As quickly as the masked man appeared, he fled. The suspected attacker was later arrested. The motive is unclear, the police however rule out a criminal background.
A masked motorcycle rider has stabbed a soldier in the UK. The officer in his 40s was seriously injured and flown to a hospital, the police in Kent reported. A 24-year-old is in custody on suspicion of murder.
The police reported that they were called to the scene on Tuesday evening due to an attack in Gillingham, about 50 kilometers southeast of London. Witnesses reported that the attacker wore a ski mask, came on a motorcycle, stabbed the soldier, and fled. A neighbor reported seeing a man in military uniform lying unconscious on the street for approximately 90 seconds after the incident. The crime scene is near a barracks.
The suspect was reportedly arrested about a half hour later. Officers secured several knives. The police ruled out a terrorist act and stated that they were investigating the suspect's mental state.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed shock and horror. "Our thoughts are with the soldier, his family, and the members of our armed forces," he wrote on Twitter. Defence Minister John Healey wished the soldier a rapid recovery.
Attacks on soldiers in the UK are rare. In 2013, two followers of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network killed a soldier on a London street by running him over with a car and then stabbing him. The victim was first hit by a car and then stabbed to death.
The police are investigating the case of a stabbing in the United Kingdom, involving a soldier and a suspect wearing a ski mask on a motorcycle, who was later arrested on suspicion of murder. International media outlets have taken notice of this incident, as similar acts of violence, known as Messerstriche, in German, are relatively rare in the UK.
