Hainault: What we know about London sword attack

Just as the Tuesday morning rush hour and school run got under way, the quiet residential streets of a north-east London suburb were overtaken by panic and screams.

In the space of less than half an hour in Hainault, schoolboy Daniel Anjorin and four other people were attacked.

A few hours later, police confirmed the 14-year-old had died of his injuries.

Witnesses captured footage of a man prowling the streets brandishing a samurai-style sword, as residents were warned to lock their doors.

On Wednesday evening, police named Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo as the suspect and charged him with murder.

Police have described the incident as "truly horrific" and are still piecing together how and why this attack unfolded.

Shortly before 07:00 BST on Tuesday morning, police received reports of a car being driven into a house near Hainault's Underground rail station.

One witness told PA news agency he heard shrieking and police officers confronting the suspect.

He continued: "I looked out the back window because the noise was coming from back there, I saw a bloke dressed in yellow jumping over some fences... I saw a policeman and policewoman - normal coppers with the short-sleeved shirts - who chased after him and they were shouting for him to put it down."

Manpreet Singh told the BBC he saw a "group of people, five or six of them, trying to fight off a guy - he had a sword in his hand".

He told Radio 5 Live he saw the man running towards Hainault's nearby Underground station and entering a road opposite, before trying to get into a house.

Mr Singh said the man was trying to fight police officers off and was Tasered.

Eyewitness James Fernando said a grey transit van pulled up and a "man a got out with a samurai sword". The man tried to talk to one female resident who ran away from him, he continued.

He said that as the man pulled the sword into the air, the woman tried to warn another neighbour who turned around, only to be "struck in the head".

The man "was running around, still after the police officers came, with the sword in his hand", Mr Fernando added.

In one video, the suspect can be seen looking in houses along Laing Close, near where a motionless person was also seen lying in the road.

One member of the public appears to have had a lucky escape. Footage captured the moment they emerged from a house into which the man had been looking moments before.

They can be seen poking their head out the door and seeing the attacker, before quickly disappearing back inside.

Another member of the public captured footage of the man being pursued by police as he climbed over fences and garages and into gardens.

A man can be heard warning residents by screaming "everybody lock your doors".

Police say they arrested a suspect 22 minutes after they received the first 999 call from a member of the public.

There were five victims in total, one of whom - 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin - died of his wounds. Two of those injured were police officers.

Daniel was a pupil at Bancroft's school, in Woodford Green, east London. The school was also attended by Grace O'Malley-Kumar, who died in a knife attack in Nottingham - where she was studying at university - in June 2023.

A tribute to Daniel posted on the school's website read: "He was a true scholar, demonstrating commendable dedication to his academic pursuits.

"His positive nature and gentle character will leave a lasting impact on us. Losing such a young pupil is something we will always struggle to come to terms with."

The other four victims are all expected to survive their injuries.

A 33-year-old man was injured when a van driven by the man hit him and slammed into a home in Laing Close.

He then suffered a wound to his neck after a further attack.

Another member of the public, a 35-year-old man, suffered slash wounds to his arm when he was "attacked inside a nearby property".

Two Metropolitan Police officers who were injured have "significant but not life-threatening" injuries and require surgery, the Met confirmed.

On Wednesday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley confirmed a male officer sustained serious hand injuries and a female officer underwent several hours of surgery to repair "horrifically serious" wounds to her arm.

Ambulance crews, specialist critical care paramedics and London's Air ambulance treated the five people "with a variety of injuries" before taking them all to hospital, where the boy later died.

Police arrested a 36-year-old man at the scene.

On Wednesday, he was in police custody after spending time in hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

That evening, police named the man as Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo and charged him with the murder of Daniel.

He was also charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article, police announced.

The suspect, who is a dual Spanish-Brazilian national, will appear at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

No. The Met Police said within hours of the incident that it "does not appear to be terror-related" and also said they did not believe it was a "targeted attack".

Police have also said they are not looking for any more suspects and there is no ongoing risk to the public.

The incident occurred in Hainault, a suburban area in Ilford, which is part of the London Borough of Redbridge.

Hainault is part of Greater London and is around 14 miles (22.5km) from the centre of the capital.

By Wednesday evening, police had removed the cordon at the scene, granting access to pedestrians for the first time since the attack.

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