LONDON (AP) — A masked assailant on a moped stabbed and seriously injured a British soldier in broad daylight near a barracks in southeastern England, witnesses and police said Wednesday.
Police said a 24-year-old man was arrested shortly after the incident on suspicion of attempted murder. A motive has not yet been released. The investigation is being led by local Kent police, not the counter-terrorism unit.
The British military said the victim, a man in his 40s, was seriously injured and was taken by helicopter to hospital for treatment.
“I am shocked and appalled,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on social network X. “Our thoughts are all with the soldier, his family and all the military personnel who work so hard to keep us all safe. I wish him a speedy recovery.”
Defence Secretary John Healey also called the attack “shocking”.
Kent Police said officers were called on Tuesday evening to reports of an assault in the town of Gillingham, 30 miles (about 50 kilometers) southeast of London.
Witnesses said attackers wearing ski masks approached on mopeds, attacked the soldiers and then fled.
Alex Reynolds, who lives nearby, said he came out of his house and saw a man in military uniform lying in the street “not moving”.
“A minute and a half after it happened, there were already 10 people around the body,” he said.
Others at the scene reported seeing the attacker “fleeing at high speed” on a motorbike.
UPDATE: A man remains in custody today (Wednesday 24 July 2024) following a serious assault on a soldier. #Gillingham. https://t.co/AajXGEpGCw pic.twitter.com/5dA54WM8em
— Kent Police (UK) (@kent_police) July 24, 2024
Police said the suspect was arrested within 30 minutes. He was identified only as a local man, aged 24. British police do not release suspects’ names until they are charged.
Police said the road where the attack happened is close to Brompton Barracks, the headquarters of the British Army’s 1st Royal Military Engineer College Regiment. Police vehicles and crime scene tape blocked off both ends of the tree-lined road on Wednesday morning. The army denied media reports that soldiers were wearing military uniform at the time of the attack.
“Our thoughts are with our soldiers and their families and we ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult time,” the Army said in a statement. “We continue to work closely with Kent Police to understand what has happened and assist with their investigation.”
Attacks on soldiers are rare in Britain. In 2013, two al-Qaida-inspired men ran over 25-year-old soldier Lee Rigby with a car and stabbed him to death on a London street. They were given life sentences.
