Skip to content

Fishmongers' Hall: Terrorist shot at 20 times on London Bridge

Met Police Still from a video clip showing Usman Khan praising Learning TogetherMet Police
Usman Khan's trip to Fishmongers' Hall was the first he had taken unescorted out of Staffordshire since his release from prison in 2018

Fishmongers' Hall terrorist Usman Khan was shot at 20 times by armed police before he died on London Bridge, an inquest has heard.

He stabbed Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at a prisoner rehabilitation conference at the hall on 29 November, 2019.

Khan injured two others before being shot dead by officers.

The inquest into the 28-year-old's death, being held at Guildhall, is due to last two weeks.

During the inquest, jurors were shown footage of Khan's final moments.

After stabbing Mr Merritt and Ms Jones inside Fishmongers' Hall, Khan was pursued on to London Bridge by three men.

Khan, from Stafford, told police he had a bomb on his person and was initially shot twice at close range by a firearms officer.

Map showing location of incident at London Bridge

Khan lay on the ground before he began to get up minutes later, the inquest heard.

He then sat up for 13 seconds during which at least nine fresh shots were fired at him.

Det Ch Insp Dan Brown told jurors, 20 shots were fired in total - as well as a Taser.

Met Police Saskia Jones and Jack MerrittMet Police
A jury found that Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were unlawfully killed by Usman Khan

Khan stopped moving by 14:12 GMT - around 15 minutes after beginning his attack.

He was pronounced dead at 15:07 after the scene was made safe.

Det Ch Insp Brown said police believe Khan shouted "Allahu Akbar" during their confrontation with him.

Met Police Fake suicide vestMet Police
The Guildhall heard Khan had been wearing a fake suicide vest

Footage also showed members of the public running to safety as Khan emerged from the hall, brandishing two kitchen knives.

This included a woman with a young child who ran into the path of oncoming traffic as she tried to escape.

Last week another inquest jury identified a catalogue of failures contributed to the deaths of Mr Merritt and Ms Jones.

Khan's inquest continues.