THE Finsbury Park mosque attacker who reportedly shouted “I want to kill all Muslims” as he drove a van at a crowd of worshippers killing one man and injuring 10 people has been named locally as Darren Osborne – a 47-year-old living in Cardiff.
He was described by locals as a married father of four, whose family are based in Weston-super-Mare, while police searched an address in a cul-de-sac in the Llanedeyrn area, close to Cardiff golf club in the north-east of the city suburbs.
However, the UK Government’s Minister of State for Security Ben Wallace said he was not known to the government.
He said: “What I can say on this case is this individual, so far as we know at the moment, was not known to us, but we are aware of a rise in the far right.”
Osborne was arrested by police on suspicion on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder following the attack shortly after midnight on Monday morning as worshippers attended Ramadan night prayers at the mosque.
Met police commissioner Cressida Dick said: “This was quite clearly an attack on Muslims who looked like they were probably Muslims and they were coming from a prayer meeting. We treat this as a terrorist attack and we in the Met are as shocked as anybody in this local community or across the country at what has happened.”
Osborne was born in Singapore and his mother, sister and nephew live in Weston-super-Mare, a Somerset seaside town. Neighbours told of their shock after seeing pictures of Osborne being arrested by police and people who knew him also confirmed his identity on social media.
Dave Ashford, 52, said: “Someone called me and said it was him and I said, ‘It can’t be.’ Then I saw the picture on the news and said, ‘It’s him’.”
Pauline Tibbs, 48, said: “The police have been back and forward here all day. It’s a terrible shock. “I’ve seen him walking in the street but never spoken to him. He seemed normal enough.”
However, the Met police said in a statement: “At this stage in the investigation it is believed that the suspect acted alone but we are of course investigating all the circumstances leading up to the attack.”
Several of the injured are believed to be seriously hurt. Eight people were taken to hospital, with one since discharged, while two others were treated at the scene.
All of the casualties were Muslims. Police said it was too early to say if the man who died did so directly because of the attack, as he was already receiving first aid from the public at the scene when it happened.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: “Our thoughts are with all those affected by the incident at Seven Sisters Road and their families, friends and communities. This is being treated as a terrorist incident and is being investigated by the counter-terrorism command.
“The investigation is ongoing and we are working fast to know the full details of how and why this took place.
“All the victims were from the Muslim community and we will be deploying extra police patrols to reassure the public, especially those observing Ramadan.”
Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the incident as “every bit as sickening” as the recent atrocities in London and Manchester. She faced heckles from the public after visiting the London mosque, with cries such as “have you got a faster taxi today?”
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