Seconds before Sudesh Amman stabbed two people in London’s Streatham High Road on Sunday, a shopkeeper tried to grab the knife from the young student.
The attacker, 20, who was obsessed with knives, was under surveillance by police after a 2018 conviction for possessing and disseminating terrorist material. It was his life goal to die “in the name of terrorism”.
Amman was seen by shopkeeper Jagmon Singh as the entered his shop and stole the kitchen knife from behind the till.
Mr Singh told the Evening Standard he tried to wrestle the knife from the attacker, believing him to be no more than a thief.
Just before emergency services were called to the scene at 2pm, Amman stabbed a woman before slashing a man. Surveillance officers shot him dead within eight seconds.
Immediately after, onlookers posted images of the crime scene on social media.
Streatham High Road was cordoned off with blue and white police tape. Armed officers stood vigilant as the street was evacuated.
The video shared most widely was Amman's body on the high street. Armed plainclothes police stood over him.
Silver canisters, part of the fake bomb the young man had strapped to himself, were just visible.
Witnesses spoke of gunshots and police chases.
“I was crossing the road when I saw a man with a machete and silver canisters on his chest being chased by what I assume was an undercover police officer,” said Gulled Bulhan, 19, a student from Streatham.
Karker Tahir, who works near by, said: “The man was then shot. I think I heard three gun shots. He didn't stop, and then I saw that they shot him three times.”
“It was horrible seeing it. The man was on the floor and it looked like he had something, which police said may be a device.
"Police came to us and said, 'You have to leave the shop because he has a bomb in his bag'."
Some spoke of the confusion as police told shoppers to leave because of the potential bomb threat. Others talked about the wait for emergency services to help the victims.
David Chawner, an author, wrote of the agonising delay as the ambulances responded.
“I had to stay with someone who’d just been stabbed in Streatham for 30 minutes before a single ambulance arrived,” he posted on social media.
Police later confirmed a man in his forties and a woman in her fifties had been stabbed during the attack.
The man, whose injuries were critical when he was rushed to hospital, has now improved. Another woman in her twenties was treated for minor injuries.
Less than an hour after emergency services were called to the scene police had declared they were dealing with a terrorist incident.
An hour after that, by 4pm London time, they announced the attack had been contained.
London police on Monday carried out searches on two homes, in South London and Bishop’s Stortford.
