Police raids as Westminster terror suspect's route revealed
The car was driven from Birmingham and spent hours near London's main shopping area before driving to Parliament in the morning.
Wednesday 15 August 2018 08:24, UK
Police are searching addresses in the Midlands after a man smashed his car into barriers near Parliament in a suspected terror attack.
Officers have revealed the driver travelled from Birmingham to London on Monday night and arrived in the capital just after midnight.
The silver Ford Fiesta hit cyclists and pedestrians at 7.37am on Tuesday before crashing into security barriers.
Police said the suspect arrested at the scene by armed police is a 29-year-old UK national previously unknown to MI5.
Sky News understands he is a student who lived above an internet cafe in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham.
Two addresses in the West Midlands city were being searched by counter-terror officers on Tuesday evening, as well as a flat in Nottingham's Radford/Arboretum area.
The car, after travelling to the capital, remained in the Tottenham Court Road area, close to Oxford Street, from around 1.25am until 5.55am.
The hatchback was then driven to Westminster and Whitehall for about 6am and stayed in the area until the time of the attack.
Anyone who saw the car is being asked to contact police. They gave its registration as FL10 CWZ.
Detectives said on Tuesday afternoon that the suspect - who was wearing a white shirt and a black hooded puffer jacket - was not co-operating with them.
He is a British citizen who is originally from abroad, security minister Ben Wallace told the BBC.
"There was nobody else in the vehicle, which remains at the scene and is being searched. No weapons have been recovered at this stage," said a statement from Metropolitan Police.
A man and a women were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries after the vehicle hit cyclists in rush hour, but they have now been discharged.
Another man was also treated at the scene.
Witnesses have described how the car came "whipping round the corner" and drove through about a dozen cyclists.
Robert Nicholson told Sky News he saw the incident unfold as he was waiting in a "safe cycling box" near Parliament.
He chased the car after the impact left one woman flying up "onto the bonnet" and snapped the frame of one of the bikes.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: "There is no intelligence at this time of further danger to Londoners or to the rest of the UK connected to this incident."
Project Servator officers, specially trained to recognise anyone displaying subtle signs of anxiety, have been deployed in Westminster to identify any other potential attackers.
"My thoughts are with those injured in the incident in Westminster and my thanks to the emergency services for their immediate and courageous response," said Prime Minister Theresa May.
Donald Trump also tweeted: "Another terrorist attack in London... These animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength!"