LONDON (Reuters) -A 32-year-old British man accused of stabbing multiple passengers on a train in eastern England was not known to counter-terrorism police or security services, transport minister Heidi Alexander said on Monday.
The attack on Saturday evening – which police said was not being treated as terrorism – left 11 people injured, including a member of the train crew who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition, Alexander said.
Five of the injured had been discharged from hospital by late on Sunday.
Alexander told Times Radio on Monday that the suspect, who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, had not been flagged to counter-terrorism authorities prior to the attack.
“I can tell you he was not known to counter-terrorism police, he was not known to security services,” Alexander said, adding that she could not comment on whether the man had been known to mental health services.
British Transport Police said officers responded within eight minutes of the first emergency call. A knife was recovered at the scene and CCTV footage reviewed by detectives showed a train crew member intervening to stop the attacker.
“He literally put himself in harm’s way,” Alexander said. “There will be people who are alive today because of his actions.”
The suspect was arrested after the train made an emergency stop at Huntingdon, about 80 miles north of London. Authorities said they were not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Kate Holton)
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