'DON'T TOUCH MY BODY'
A WOMAN terror suspect, 20, shot by heavily-armed cops in London raid told officers to "get off" as they tried to treat her wounds - as six are arrested over "active" terror plot.
Heavily-armed cops swooped on the house in Willesden, North West London, and fired CS gas inside - just hours after a a "knife terrorist" was stopped at Whitehall.
20
20
20
20
20
Terrified neighbours described seeing the injured woman, wearing a long dress and hijab, lying on the pavement and yelling at officers as they tended to her.
Meanwhile the front door was wide open and the hall was covered in blood after the shooting, residents said.
Cops said the raid was not connected to the man arrested yesterday near the scene of the Westminster attack, but the suspects had been under observation by counter-terror officers.
Police have said the injured woman, 20, remains in hospital with serious injuries but is stable - however she has not yet been arrested due to her condition.
A 20-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy were arrested at the address and a man, 20, was detained nearby.
A man and a woman, both 28, were arrested when they returned to the address later that night while a woman, 43, was arrested in Kent a short while later.
Police say the suspects are being held on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Frightened residents described hearing a woman screaming as armed police swarmed the terraced property in Harlesden Road, before "about six" shots were fired.
Dramatic footage has emerged of officers pointing guns at the top floor during the raid while pictures from today show bullet holes in one of the windows.
Ruth Haile 40, who has lived in the area for nine years, said heard gunshots outside and rushed to her window.
She said: "The woman was being arrested, she was on the floor wearing an long dress and covered in a head scarf.
"She was shouting, 'Do not touch me, do not touch my body.'
"She was injured, she had a wound on her right side and doctors were trying to help her.
"She was lying in the street and there were about five or six police around her, some of them were carrying guns.
"Police were cutting her dress and she was shouting at them, shouting 'No, no, no'.
"That was the first time I had seen her, you could see through the front door and there was blood everywhere."
20
20
20
20
20
A mother-of-one, who lives next door to the raided house and gave her name only as Alexandra, said she heard a woman "screaming" shortly after the armed police arrived.
She said she thought the police were coming through her door, and saw officers with "gas masks and snipers".
"We were just about to go shopping until we heard 'bang, bang, bang, bang', went to the window and just saw a number of armed police just there with their guns pointing at our next-door neighbour's window.
"We were really worried - I was screaming to my partner 'Armed police is here, oh my god, armed police' and then again we heard extra bangs, more bangs, so we assumed that's when they were breaking the doors or something.
"They were in the garden - they were everywhere. They swarmed the whole house practically. I wasn't even allowed in my garden - they were telling me '(There's) armed police, go inside'.
"At that point I went to the window just to see what was happening. (I) couldn't really see anything until about after 15 minutes I heard the lady really screaming so we were trying to see if we could see anyone being brought out but we couldn't - my partner thought he saw someone being carried."
She said the woman was "screaming really loud" and described her neighbours as a "standard Muslim couple" of whom she "never suspected anything at all".
One young woman, who did not want to be named, said: "It was quite dramatic. I didn't realise what was happening - I heard shooting and saw loads of police.
"We were kept inside our house, everything was cordoned off, they didn't let anyone come out of their houses.
"There were quite a few shots - at least six. At the beginning I didn't know what it was but after three or four we realised and then saw the police."
20
20
20
20
Another resident, an elderly woman who also did not want to be identified, said she was terrified when she heard loud bangs.
"I heard the police banging on someone's house; it was quite frightening hearing the shots fired," she added.
"There was a whole gang of them, maybe about 14 police all hanging around, they had guns.
"They were banging on some house and shouting.
"I was too frightened to go and see what was happening, I just wanted to keep away from the window."
Eyewitness Hanna Szabo, 86, told Sun Online: “There were lots and lots of police – around 20 I would say. And lots of cars. I first noticed them at around 7pm.
“I went out to see what was going on but the police just said they had it all under control. I was worried."
Met Police's deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu, senior national co-ordinator for counter terrorism policing, said officers had foiled an "active" terror plot.
He said: "Due to these arrests that have been made yesterday, in both cases I believe that we have contained the threats that they pose."
20
20
20
DAC Basu said no further details about the plot could be released because it is a "live investigation" with "people under arrest" who will be interviewed by detectives.
He said there are three ongoing searches in the capital connected to last night's arrests.
Speaking about the incident in Whitehall yesterday, he said there are also two ongoing searches at addresses in London in connection with the investigation.
The incident has been referred to the Metropolitan Police's Directorate of Professional Standards and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) "as a matter of course", Scotland Yard said.
Last night, forensic officers were seen removing property from the building, with the Met confirming that further searches are taking place at linked properties across the capital.
The raid came hours after cops arrested a 27-year-old man carrying a "rucksack full of knives" in Whitehall yesterday.
Dramatic pictures showed cops wrestling the man to the ground as three large knives and a discarded rucksack lay sprawled on the floor next to him.
20
20
20
It is thought he was headed towards Downing Street after emerging from St James' Park Tube station followed by cops, who had him under surveillance.
He remains in custody having been arrested for terrorism act offences and possession of offensive weapons.
Britain's current terror level is at "severe," meaning an attack is highly likely.
Last month terrorist Khalid Masood turned Westminster Bridge into a bloodbath by mowing down at least 20 people — with one witness calling it “a scene of absolute horror”.
Screaming tourists ran for their lives as his car mounted the pavement and started ploughing through crowds on March 22.
The shooting at the North London property has been reported to the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards and the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368
Topics