Share and Follow
A 32-year-old man has been charged by UK police in connection with a mass stabbing incident on a train that left 11 people injured. The same individual is also accused of attempting to kill another person at a London transit station earlier that day.
British Transport Police have identified the suspect as Anthony Williams. He faces multiple charges, including 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual bodily harm, and one count of possessing a bladed article related to the train attack that took place on Saturday.
Additionally, Williams faces an attempted murder charge for a separate incident at Pontoon Dock light rail station in London, which occurred earlier on the same day. Authorities have indicated that they are investigating other potential related offenses.
It is important to note that police have stated the stabbings are not being considered acts of terrorism, and they are not seeking any additional suspects. A second individual, initially apprehended as a suspect, was released without charges on Sunday after it was confirmed that the 35-year-old was not connected to the incidents.
Williams, a British national hailing from Peterborough, located in eastern England, is scheduled to make a court appearance later on Monday.
The minutes-long stabbing spree spread fear and panic through a train bound from Doncaster in northern England to London on Saturday evening. The train was about halfway through its journey and had just departed from a stop at Peterborough when police began receiving calls about people being stabbed onboard.
Passengers described scenes of panic as bloodied travelers raced down the train to get away from the knifeman. The most seriously wounded victim is a member of railway staff who tried to stop the attacker. Police called his actions ” nothing short of heroic”.
He is hospitalised in a critical but stable condition.
Williams was arrested when the train made an emergency stop in the town of Huntingdon in eastern England. Police say he was detained within eight minutes of officers receiving the first emergency calls.
Authorities said the attack was an isolated incident but stepped up security on the railway, with armed police officers on patrol on Monday at major train stations.