Two people have been left injured after a stabbing at the Sony Music headquarters in Kensington, London, with both being held on “on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.” Firearms officers and paramedics responded to a call, arriving at the building in Derry Street, on Friday the 2nd of November 2018, at 11:00am GMT.
Two men have been taken to the hospital with injuries, that are not life-threatening or life-changing, with on being taken to the hospital and the other being taken to a major trauma centre, London Ambulance Service and Metropolitan police have said.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 11.01 today to Derry Street, W8, to reports of an incident. We sent an incident response officer, two single responders in cars and two ambulance crews to the scene. We treated two people at the scene. We took one to hospital and one to a major trauma centre.”
According to a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “Officers, including firearms officers, and the London Ambulance Service attended. Evacuations took place as precaution. Two men aged 25 and 36 were found suffering from stab injuries. They were both arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. The men have been taken to hospital where they remain. Their injuries have been deemed non-life threatening. There is no evidence that any firearms were involved in the incident. It is not being treated as terror-related. A crime scene remains in place. At this stage, officers are not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident. Enquiries continue.”
The BBC reported that Sony issued a statement saying the stabbings occurred during a “violent altercation” between workers on the catering staff. A member of staff told the BBC that they had heard “screaming and running and people slamming doors”. Adding that the two kitchen workers were “slashing each other up”.
Commander Kyle Gordon, who leads the Met’s Specialist Firearms Command, said: “Thankfully this was not a firearms incident, but the initial reports indicated that there had been gunfire and there may have been an active shooter on the scene. The response was immediate – within eight minutes of the first call coming in, firearms officers who had joined local officers already on the scene had entered the building to deal with the incident.
“We have robust plans for these types of incidents to ensure our response is swift and effective. My colleagues are trained to confront the danger to keep the public safe and I would like to commend them in how they responded today, in the face of what was initially thought to be an armed threat. I would also like to thank the public for reporting the initial incident to us and for their cooperation.”
Simon Neville, a journalist who was outside Sony’s offices when the incident took place, told The Guardian: “Everybody starting pouring out and running towards the square around the back. Then I saw a young, white man with a red jacket being tackled by the security guards by the loading bay on Derry Street. He was shouting at them to get off. Once he was tackled, they started bringing the shutters down. He has now been led away by the police.”
