<p class="article-paragraph">A man was arrested in Leicester, UK, after an incident involving a stabbing that resulted in an 11-year-old girl sustaining injuries.</p>

Aug. 12, 2024, 4:43 p.m.

Read time estimation: 3 minutes.

  2

London’s Metropolitan Police said Monday a 32-year-old man had been arrested after an 11-year-old girl was “seriously injured” in a stabbing in Leicester Square in the city centre.

The young victim will require further treatment in hospital but her condition is “not life threatening”, while her 34-year-old mother also suffered minor injuries, police added.

The police department stated in a press release that the 32-year-old suspect was apprehended at the scene and that they are not currently seeking any other individuals in connection with the attack.

Advertisement “An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened,” Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said.

“At this stage we don’t believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other.

“While we continue to work to establish the suspect’s motive, at this stage there is nothing to indicate the attack was terror-related.”

The incident comes just two weeks after a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, which tragically resulted in the deaths of three girls and injuries to eight other children, along with two adults.

The mass stabbing triggered riots throughout England, fueled by online rumors claiming the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. A British-born teenager has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

This case, too, is not being investigated as an act of terrorism.

- ‘Terrible’ -

Monday’s stabbing took place in the heart of the British capital, in an area heavily frequented by tourists and shoppers.

A security guard, speaking to the Press Association (PA) news agency, reported that he intervened and disarmed a man who was attacking the 11-year-old child on the west side of Leicester Square.

The 29-year-old guard at a nearby store, who gave his name as Abdullah, said he heard a scream and then saw someone “stabbing a kid”.

“I jumped on him, held the hand in which he was (carrying) a knife, and just put him down on the floor and just held him and took the knife away from him,” he said.

Advertisement “Then a couple of more people joined as well, and we just held him until the police came.”

Desmond, 45, told PA that the suspect – described as a “young, white, skinny male wearing a black T-shirt and jeans” – appeared to focus the attack on the girl.

The witness, a street performer dressed as Darth Vader in Leicester Square, reported that the assailant grappled her and stabbed her.

“It was so terrible, I’ve never seen a thing like that,” he said.

“I saw the woman was screaming with all her strength.”

Jessah called it “a horrific incident” and paid tribute to people “who bravely intervened”.

Advertisement “They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so,” she added.