LONDON – A masked attacker on a motorcycle stabbed and seriously injured a British army officer in daylight near a barracks in southeast England, witnesses and police said Wednesday.
A 24-year-old man was arrested soon after on suspicion of attempted murder, Kent police said.
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Police said the assailant acted alone and the stabbing was not believed to be an act of terror. They are investigating if it was related to the suspect's mental health.
The officer, who is in his 40s, suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to a hospital for treatment, the British army said. He was in serious but stable condition, police said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “shocked and appalled,” writing on social network X. "All our thoughts are with the soldier, his family and our Armed Forces community, who serve to keep all of us safe. I wish him a swift recovery.”
Defense Secretary John Healey also called the attack “shocking.”
The Kent Police force said officers were called Tuesday evening to reports of an assault in the town of Gillingham, 30 miles (about 50 kilometers) southeast of London.
Witnesses said an attacker wearing a ski mask, rode up on a motorbike, attacked the soldier, and then fled.
Alex Reynolds, who lives nearby, said he came out of his house and saw a man in military uniform lying in a street "not moving.”
"It was a minute and a half after the incident, there were already 10 people around the body," he said. He said others at the scene said they saw the attacker “speed away” on the bike.
A suspect was arrested within half an hour and several knives were seized, police said. British police do not name suspects until they have been charged.
The road where police said the attack happened is close to Brompton Barracks, the headquarters of the British Army’s 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment. On Wednesday morning, police cars and crime scene tape cordoned off both ends of the treelined road.
“Our thoughts are with the soldier and their family and we request that their privacy is respected at this difficult time," the army said in a statement. “We will continue to work closely with Kent Police to understand what happened and support the investigation."
Attacks on soldiers in Britain are rare. In 2013, two men inspired by al-Qaida killed 25-year-old soldier Lee Rigby in a London street, running him down with a car before stabbing him to death. The men were sentenced to life in prison.