A woman in her 20s was shot on Thursday, April 27 during a raid on a home on Harlesden Road, Willesden, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
Updates are at the bottom of this post.
The unidentified woman was the subject of a police investigation.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said on Friday morning that police had foiled an “active plot.”
“Four people have now been arrested. The first, a 20-year-old man was arrested near to the address. A male aged 16 and woman aged 20 were arrested at the address. A 43-year-old woman was arrested in Kent a short while later.”
Metropolitan Police statement
All four people were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts under section 41 of the terrorism act of 2000. As of Thursday night, all four people remain in custody at south London Police station.
Video posted on Twitter Thursday night appeared to show the raid.
https://twitter.com/kieranmckenna1/status/857708675699486721
The tweet with the video was deleted. Here it is. pic.twitter.com/JqEFGd08R5
— Grasswire (@Grasswire) April 28, 2017
Police said the Willesden address was under observation for some time and searches were ongoing there and “at linked addresses across London.”
The street was still taped off as of Friday morning.
Cordon remains in place in Willesden, London, where a woman was shot and injured by police who believe they foiled an active terror plot pic.twitter.com/HZiG1rBrhc
— Harriet Line (@HarriLine) April 28, 2017
The woman who was shot is hospitalized in serious but stable condition, according to Basu. She has not been arrested due to her condition but remains under police guard.
The arrests were not related to an earlier incident in Whitehall where a 27-year old man was arrested near Parliament on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack.
UPDATE May 1
Officers with the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command arrested three women on Monday, May 1 in connection with the Harlesden Road investigation.
Three woman aged 18 [A], 18 [B] and 19 [C] have been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Metropolitan Police statement
The women were arrested at three separate addresses in East London and are in custody in a police station outside London.
On Sunday, the 21-year old woman shot in the Harlesden Road raid was released from the hospital and arrested.
Warrants of further detention were issued for all three women on May 2, and they can be held until May 4.
Update May 4
London’s Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command said on Thursday, May 4 that six women in police custody can be detained for an additional seven days as investigations continue in connection with a foiled active terror plot.
Five of the women were arrested between April 27 and May 1 in Willesden, Kent and east London. The sixth woman was arrested on April 30 after being discharged from the hospital where she was treated after being shot by police during the raid on Harlesden Road.
Two men and a 16-year old boy arrested at or near Harlesden Road on April 27 were released without charge.
Police said they have finished searching all the addresses in connection with the arrests.
UPDATE May 10
Two 18-year old women and a 19-year old woman arrested in east London on May 1 were released with no further action on Tuesday, May 9, the Metropolitan Police said.
Three other women arrested by the Met Counter Terrorism Command in April were charged with preparation of a terrorist act and conspiracy to murder:
[B] Rizlaine Boular, 21-year-old, of central London – arrested on 30 April when she was discharged from hospital;
[C] Khawla Barghouthi, 20-year-old, of north-west London – arrested on 27 April at an address in Harlesden Road, north-west London; and
[D] Mina Dich, 43-year-old, of south-west London – arrested on 27 April in Kent. Dich is the mother of Rizlaine Boular.
Metropolitan Police statement
They remain in custody and are set to appear at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 11.
