'A lovely man': Tributes to PC Keith Palmer who died in Westminster attack
A woman in her 40s and a man in his 50s were also killed in the terror attack, while seven people remain in a critical condition.
Thursday 20 April 2017 08:05, UK
Colleagues and MPs have paid tribute to police officer Keith Palmer, who was stabbed to death by a terrorist as he stood guard outside Parliament.
The 48-year-old husband and father was attacked by a man armed with two knives in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament.
The assailant, who moments earlier had struck a number of pedestrians with a car on Westminster Bridge before crashing the vehicle into railings outside Parliament, was shot dead by armed police following the attack on the unarmed officer.
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Conservative MP James Cleverly, who served with PC Palmer in the Royal Artillery, described the officer as "a lovely man".
He said: "I'm heartbroken. My thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of PC Keith Palmer. A brave man."
It has been confirmed that PC Palmer's name will be added to the Police Roll of Honour. Tributes will also be made to those killed later today.
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Paying tribute to PC Palmer, Met Police deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said: "He was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift - and he had every right to expect that would happen."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the officer "personifies the brave men and women of our police and emergency services who work around the clock to keep us safe".
Police say approximately 40 people were injured in the atrocity, some of whom were said to have sustained "catastrophic injuries".
Three people are so far confirmed to have died in the attack. The assailant was also shot at the scene and later died.
Police have confirmed that two members of the public - a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s - were killed, and seven people remain in a critical condition.
Three police officers who were on their way back from a commendation ceremony were also injured on the bridge. Two of them are in a serious condition.
Five South Koreans, three French youngsters on a school trip and two Romanians were also injured.
A woman who fell into the Thames is seriously ill, after being rescued and given urgent treatment on a nearby pier.
The most seriously injured are currently being treated at King's College Hospital in south London.