A Metropolitan police officer almost lost her hand responding to a sword attack in north east London.
A 14-year-old boy was killed and four other people were injured in the attack in Hainault yesterday.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said officers "were on the ground in 12 minutes" and that "some of the first contacts led to officers being very severely injured".
Officers were initially called to the scene at 7am with footage showing a man being apprehended after being tasered.
Police and forensic investigators in Hainault
PA
Sir Mark Rowley
PASpeaking on LBC this morning, Sir Mark said: "I was talking to the family and colleagues of the woman officer who has a really badly damaged arm, really seriously damaged, the surgeon spent many hours basically putting her arm back to together."
When about reports she nearly lost her hand in the attack, he responded saying they were "not a million miles away".
An inspector also suffered a serious hand injury while responding to the incident, with Sir Mark adding: "I saw him before the operation, he was in good spirits, I think that's partly the morphine to be honest."
When asked if more officers need guns, Rowley says no. He said: "I'm not someone who's a fan of moving toward fully armed policing" and the "largely unarmed model" should be protected.
LATEST ON THE HAINAULT STABBING
Police officers were pictured at the scene yesterday after five people were attacked with a swordPASpeaking yesterday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "My thoughts are with those affected and their families.
"I'd like to thank the emergency services for their ongoing response, and pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery shown by police on the scene. Such violence has no place on our streets."
Chief executive of anti-knife crime charity Ben Kinsella Trust, Patrick Green said there are "more and more" swords and long knives on the streets and they are "far too easy to get hold of".
He told the BBC: "It is incredibly easy to go online, buy one of these weapons, and they're not expensive, and have them delivered the following day, with little or no age verification."
Footage from doorbell camera of police officers tasering and detaining a sword-wielding man in Hainault, north east London
PA
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the King’s "thoughts and prayers are with all those affected" by the "horrific" stabbings, adding: "In particular, the family of the young victim who has lost his life."
Amid speculation about previous police contact with the suspect, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said on Tuesday that "no trace of a prior incident" involving him had been found, but that the force will continue to make checks.
