LAST UPDATE | 20 Feb 2020
POLICE IN LONDON have launched an attempted murder investigation after a man was stabbed on the grounds of a mosque.
The incident happened at the mosque on Park Road in northwest London at around 3.10pm, police said.
The mosque is close to Regent’s Park in the English capital.
Officers said that they attended the scene with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service where they found a man with stab injuries.
They confirmed that a man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder.
A spokesman said: “A crime scene has been put in place. Enquiries continue. Enquiries into the circumstances continue.”
Images posted to social media showed a white man in a red hooded top, jeans and bare feet being pinned to the floor by police officers inside the mosque, as others, including a small child, watched on.
One video showed a knife on the floor under a plastic chair.
A witness to the attack said the suspect had been a regular in the mosque, and had been seen at least six months ago.
Abi Watik, 59, said: “We were shocked we didn’t know what was happening.”
He said the victim had been stabbed once in the right shoulder moments after prayers had started, and he believed the suspect had waited for that moment.
He said: “It has just started and he was waiting for them to start.
“He was praying behind him and then he stabbed him.
“He (the suspect) was silent the whole time.”
The force said officers continue to investigate the circumstances of the stabbing.
With reporting by PA
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