The attack is being treated as a “suspected robbery”, the City of London police said.
Evening Standard
Witnesses said two suspects riding e-bikes were challenged by brave passers-by after they tried to grab a mobile phone.
City of London police said the three victims suffered non-life-changing injuries and were treated at a local hospital.
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A statement from Chief Superintendent Steve Heatley said: “Two suspects are being sought as part of the ongoing investigation into an attempted phone theft and the incident is not being treated as terror-related.
“Stopping phone theft and bringing perpetrators to justice is a priority for the City of London Police.
“The number of phone thefts has reduced, due to a focused effort which includes working with colleagues from the Metropolitan Police Service last week to make a number of arrests.”
A nearby shopkeeper said one of the suspects pulled out a knife and “started stabbing” pedestrians to get away.
He told The Standard: “I was working in the shop and saw a fight between a few people.
“A guy was shouting ‘Oi Oi’ as he walked past the shop. Something was stolen from him. Some people tried to help him, he looked like an office worker to me.
“I saw two people trying to stop the thieves near the traffic lights.
“I couldn’t get out of the store to help. The next thing I heard was a stabbing. I saw four people lying on the floor. It was so scary.”
No arrests have been made.
A traffic officer working nearby learned of the stabbing on his walkie-talkie and rushed to the scene.
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“It all happened in a minute and then [the suspect] disappeared”, he said.
“I got there and saw a man on the ground and another person screaming in agony. The whole public was trying to help with the paramedics and the police.”
The police have cordoned off the busy road.
A shopkeeper working nearby told The Standard: “My uncle told me that a guy took a pedestrian’s phone and tried to run away.
“Some innocent people tried to stop him after all the screaming. He just took a knife and started stabbing. My uncle saw it all. He’s fine.
“All four people were totally innocent just trying to help and then this happened.”
PA
A witness in the aftermath added that there was a “fair” amount of blood in the street as paramedics worked on a victim.
The video below contains scenes that some may find distressing.
She said: “I saw it from a bus. There was a fair amount of blood visible but the victims were hidden behind a white screen.
“There were a lot of paramedics on top of someone on the ground. At least one person was giving them CPR. But I immediately looked away.”
A London Ambulance spokesman said: “We were called at 9.52am today (October 6) to reports of a stabbing in Bishopsgate, central London.
“We sent a range of resources including three ambulance crews, two advanced paramedics, two incident response officers, a clinical team manager and members of our Tactical Response Unit.
“Our crews treated four patients. We have now taken three of those patients to hospital and one was assessed and released at the scene.”