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Police do not yet know whether the woman arrested over the Covent Garden stabbings will be fit enough to be charged amid mental health concerns, the Metropolitan Police chief has said.
Sir Mark Rowley hailed “brave” officers who arrested a 47-year-old woman on Wednesday after four men were attacked with what is believed to have been a pair of scissors.
Emergency services were called just before 12.30pm following reports of stabbings in Endell Street. Paramedics treated four people at the scene before taking them to a major trauma centre for treatment.
“I think there may be sort of mental health issues in this case,” Sir Mark told LBC on Thursday.
“Whether she's going to be fit to be charged or not, I don't know at this stage. Clearly, there's four members of the public who've been injured. None of them are critical, as I understand.
“The officers have been very brave, and I think people who saw some of the videos that were circulating online, you can see the officers they didn't rush to use their tasers.
“They were trying to negotiate. They were trying to do it...That's British policing. You don't rush to use force unless you have to.
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“They got to the point where they had to, and that's just indicative of the bravery, but also the sort of care and compassion that officers show.”
The woman arrested was regularly seen around the area, according to a witness.
An air ambulance landed on Trafalgar Square as part of the response to what officers called an “isolated, mental health” incident and a police cordon was put in place.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the 47-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, believed to be a pair of scissors, and assault. She remains in custody.
Four men – aged 34, 39, 42, and 52 - were found with stab wounds and assessed at the scene by paramedics. They were taken to hospital where two remain with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening or life changing. The other two victims have since been discharged.
One witness described the woman who was arrested as homeless, adding that she was regularly seen in Endell Street and the surrounding area.
A spokesman for St Mungo’s homeless charity, which works in the area, said: "Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this distressing incident.
Police officers at the scene in Covent Garden PA"We are working closely with emergency services to ensure that all of the people we support, in addition to our colleagues, are safe and accounted for."
Police continue to investigate the attack.
A large police cordon was put up from High Holborn to the St Mungo’s homeless centre in Endell Street, where officers were speaking to people before they entered the building.
Arjan Gjorga, who manages a fish and chip shop in Endell Street, said the victims were “random people who were just walking by”.
“She just started stabbing random people,” he said. “I didn’t see any scissors, but I heard it was with small scissors.
“We saw this lady after a few minutes being arrested – the police responded immediately.”
Matt Bishop, 42, who works at a consultancy firm next to the cordon in Covent Garden, said he had seen a woman having a “stand-off” with three police officers and waving a weapon around.
Emergency services near the scene on Endell Street PAHe said: “I saw her running down the road towards the crossroads. She looked quite old, short hair.
“There was a bit of a stand-off with three police officers.
“She didn’t seem to be particularly coherent. She was pretty incoherent in what she was shouting, the officer was asking what language she was shouting.”
An employee at 2 Chairs Grooming Room, a barber shop in Endell Street, said they helped one of the victims call the police after they had been stabbed.
The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “One of the victims ran into the shop to call the police. He was wearing a shirt and had a hole in his back.
“He was traumatised, he was panicked but the police turned up very quickly.”
The helicopter at Trafalgar SquareFuture Publishing via Getty ImagesA London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 12:29pm today (5 August) to reports of a stabbing on Endell Street, WC2H.
“We sent an ambulance crew, paramedic in a fast response car and an incident response officer. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.
“We treated four patients at the scene and took them all to a major trauma centre as a priority by road.”
An air ambulance helicopter landed in a packed Trafalgar Square but London Ambulance Service, which was called out at 12.29pm, later said it had “treated four patients at the scene and took them all to a major trauma centre as a priority by road”.
Anyone with information has been asked to call police on 101 quoting incident number CAD3449/05AUG.