Police chief hails use of '˜minimum force'

People should be proud of police and 'the British tradition of using the minimum necessary force' following the Russell Square knife attack, the country's most senior counter-terrorism officer has said.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Aug 2016, 21:43 BST
Updated 25th Aug 2016, 16:21 BST
A police officer stands guard near a tent in Russell Square, central London, after a knife attack in which a woman in her 60s was killed and five people were injured. A 19-year-old man has been arrested. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 4, 2016. See PA story POLICE Attack. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire.A police officer stands guard near a tent in Russell Square, central London, after a knife attack in which a woman in her 60s was killed and five people were injured. A 19-year-old man has been arrested. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 4, 2016. See PA story POLICE Attack. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire.
A police officer stands guard near a tent in Russell Square, central London, after a knife attack in which a woman in her 60s was killed and five people were injured. A 19-year-old man has been arrested. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 4, 2016. See PA story POLICE Attack. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley hailed the bravery of firearms officers for detaining the suspect, adding the man was Tasered but there were no shots fired.

Mr Rowley said 999 calls started coming in just after 10.30pm on Wednesday with reports of a man attacking people with a knife.

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He added: “Within six minutes of that call armed officers were there; the man was Tasered and he was detained.

“Our firearms officers bravely rushed to the scene with very little information.

“They would not have known if this was an act of terrorism or a random attack we now know it to be.

“We should be proud of them and the British tradition of using the minimum necessary force.”

A Taser is a less-lethal single shot weapon designed to temporarily incapacitate a suspect through the use of an electrical current, according to the Metropolitan Police website.