British PM: London attackers’ identities known, will be publicized soon

Theresa May says threat level remains ‘severe,’ meaning another attack is likely; defends police ‘shoot to kill’ policy

By AP 5 June 2017, 2:57 pm

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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May gives a general election campaign speech at Rusi in Central London on June 5, 2017. (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)

UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday said police have identified all the London Bridge attackers and that 11 people remain in custody for possible connections to the attack.

London’s police chief has also said the attackers have been identified, but the names haven’t been released. At least 12 people were arrested Sunday, including five men and seven women ranging in age from 19 to 60.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said she wouldn’t release further details in what she described as a fast-moving investigation, including whether authorities were familiar with the men before the attack.

On Monday, police detained “a number” of other people in the investigation. So far, one person has been released without charge as the raids continue.

A police forensic officer works near a residential property in East London on June 5, 2017, following a raid, as part of the investigation into the June 3 terror attacks in Central London. (AFP Photo/Daniel Leal-Olivas)

The threat level in the UK is to remain at “severe,” May said Monday, meaning an attack is highly likely.

May also said police and counter-terrorism operations are well-funded despite cuts to police staffing levels. She has been criticized for staff cuts during her tenure as home secretary.

In addition, the British prime minister said that she supports the “shoot to kill” policy used by London police in responding to terror attacks, adding that police saved “countless lives” by killing the three London bridge attackers within eight minutes on Saturday night.

She said that Britain will, however, review its counter-terrorism strategy and consider extending prison terms.

May also said that Britain must do “more, much more” to fight Islamic extremism. She called it “an evil ideology” that perverts Islam and perverts the truth.

Earlier Monday, British counterterrorism investigators searched two homes and detained “a number” of people as part of the investigation.

Dozens were injured, many of them critically, in the terror attack that started on the London Bridge, when three attackers swerved the vehicle into pedestrians then, armed with knives, rampaged through Borough Market, slashing and stabbing anyone they could find.

An armed police officer looks through his weapon on London Bridge in London, June 3, 2017. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

The three men, who wore fake suicide vests, were shot to death by police. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.

IS has claimed responsibility for three attacks in Britain since March, and Dick described the recent wave of violence as “unprecedented in my working life.”

“We in this country have faced a terrorist threat throughout my life — it changed and morphed and we will change and adapt to what appears to be a new reality for us,” she said.