A 14-year-old boy died in Tuesday’s attack in Hainault
By Jess Warren, and Anna O’Neill and Azadeh Moshiri in Hainault
BBC News
A Metropolitan Police officer was “not a million miles away” from losing her hand after she was injured during a sword attack in north-east London.
A 14-year-old boy died in Tuesday’s attack in Hainault, and four others, including two police officers, were injured.
On Wednesday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the female officer suffered “horrifically serious” arm wounds.
A male officer’s hand was also seriously injured, he added.
A 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and is in hospital.
The Met Police said the man was injured and, due to his condition, had not yet been interviewed.
The teenage boy died in hospital after the incident.
Speaking to LBC, Sir Mark said: “The first thing you have to say is for the parents involved, who’ve lost their 14-year-old, and that is just horrific, and it’s everyone’s worst nightmare.
“I’m sure we’re all thinking about them.”
He added: “We were on the ground in 12 minutes, and he was detained after 22 minutes. Obviously some of the first contacts led to officers being very severely injured.”
He said the female officer was in surgery for several hours after suffering “horrifically serious” wounds to her arm and it had seemed “not a million miles away” that she might lose her hand.
Sir Mark added a surgeon had since spent “many, many hours basically putting her arm back together” and “based on what the surgeon was saying, we’re increasingly optimistic that with months and years, and lots of physio, full recovery might be possible”.
“People say officers run towards danger. You’ve got officers running towards someone who’s waving a sword,” he said.
On Wednesday, a “vanload” of officers arrived at the scene, with at least 20 officers seen at the site by a BBC London reporter by 07:30 BST.
Their hi-vis jackets were “as far as they eye could see”, as officers spoke to people and worked to gather evidence.
Watch: How sword attack carnage unfolded in Hainault
A police cordon remained in place with officers stationed on New North Road, close to Hainault Underground Station.
Two buses that were stopped at the scene on Tuesday remain on New North Road as they cannot be removed from the cordon, while residents need to give their names to a police officer before being able to cross.
A man carrying a bag of toilet roll and a woman walking her child to school have seen their names jotted down on a piece of paper.
Image source, PA Media
Forensic investigators have been working at the scene in Laing Close in Hainault, north-east London
A former police sergeant in Hainault told the BBC the neighbourhood was a quiet, residential area that would not expect to see an attack such as the one on Tuesday.
Police say they do not believe the incident was terror-related or targeted.
They were called to reports of a car crashing into a house and people being stabbed at about 07:00 on Tuesday.
The suspect was then seen leaping over people’s garden fences and walking around with a sword. He was eventually cornered and Tasered in a front garden.
Watch: Moment Hainault attacker appears to drive into person
The 14-year-old boy died from stab wounds shortly after being taken to hospital. His identity has not been released and his family are being supported by specially trained police staff.
Two other members of the public remain in hospital but their conditions are not considered to be life-threatening, police say.
Police said they were not looking for any more suspects.
In response to speculation about the man’s background including police contact with him, the force said police checks had found no trace of a prior incident involving the man.
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