New Scotland Yard has launched a murder investigation after an elderly man was fatally stabbed in Central London on Thursday.
The unidentified 60-year-old was at London’s Oxford Circus when he was stabbed. He died in hospital later.
The suspect, who is also unidentified, remains in custody at a central London police station.
A witness to the stabbing told the PA news agency that he saw members of the public grab the suspect and disarm him.
The passerby, who asked not to be named, said members of the public “detained him and put the knife in a cylinder.”
“One man grabbed him and soon after the police were there holding him down and he was shouting. I couldn’t hear what he was saying though,” the witness said.
“It was awful. I didn’t see much. Obviously, it’s very busy and I only realised something bad happened when people were shouting and very soon after the police were there.”
The Met said the incident is being treated as a random and unprovoked assault and is not terror-related, and that officers are not actively looking for anyone else.
Detective Chief Inspector Vicky Tunstall from the Specialist Crime Command said the Met would like to speak to the members of the public who intervened, particularly “two young males with skateboards who led this intervention.”
Tunstall also asked witnesses, and anyone who has mobile phone or dashcam footage of the incident to come forward.
