Two Jewish men stabbed in Golders Green; Met designates terrorist incident, suspect detained by police and Shomrim volunteers

A 45-year-old man with what Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called "a history of serious violence and mental health issues" stabbed two Jewish men aged 34 and 76 in Golders Green, north London on the morning of April 29; the Metropolitan Police designated the attack a terrorist incident later that day. Officers responded at 11:16 BST after reports that people had been stabbed on Highfield Avenue, which runs off Golders Green Road. Both victims are in stable condition. Footage circulated on social media showed an older man putting on a kippah at a bus stop before the attacker lunged at him. Local pizza-shop worker Tariq Aziz said he helped the 76-year-old, who had come into the shop bleeding from his neck, until police arrived; Aziz pointed the suspect out to officers as the man walked away with the knife.

The suspect was detained without firearms by Met officers and volunteers from Shomrim, the Jewish community security group founded in 2008 with around 50 unarmed 24/7 volunteers patrolling parts of north London. Shomrim member Yonathan Elkouby, 33, drove from a nearby job and used his car to block the suspect, then helped police hold the man's legs and one hand on the ground; another Shomrim volunteer, Ben Grossnass, said the group had been first on the scene after calls to its hotline. Officers Tasered the suspect to the floor before arresting him on suspicion of attempted murder; Rowley said the unarmed officers had "feared that he was carrying an explosive device" and used "only their training, their courage and their tasers" to detain him. One officer is shown in social-media footage kicking the suspect in the head while he was on the floor as officers tried to disarm him.

The attack landed within a longer pattern. Grossnass said the Jewish community had been dealing with a recent spate of arson attacks -- including the destruction weeks earlier of Hatzola ambulances run by a Jewish medical charity -- and "small incidents in the past three, four weeks, also targeted at synagogues and community centres". Steven Bak, another Shomrim volunteer, said: "Our kids are in shock and fear and having a hard time at the moment, just going up, walking, going to the shops, going to synagogue." A small group of protesters near Rowley's press appearance heckled the commissioner with calls for him to resign.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would "strain every sinew" to keep the Jewish community safe and would not "tolerate a situation where our Jewish citizens have to lead smaller lives" to do so, vowing that "an enhanced police presence" would continue. Mahmood said the initial circumstances supported the Met's decision to designate the attack a terrorist incident.