Police are still hunting two knife-wielding robbers who stabbed three people as horrified commuters watched on near Liverpool Street Station on Thursday.
Witnesses said two suspects on electric bikes were challenged by brave passersby after they tried to snatch a mobile phone on Bishopsgate just before 10am on Thursday.
In shocking footage of the triple stabbing, the two suspects pass a blade between each other as they take turns landing blows on heroic Londoners fighting back.
The taller suspect appears to be handed a blade by his accomplice as he is dragged to the ground by a member of the public.
A woman in a floral dress is also shown pushing the attacker in the back before checking her arm after she is swung at.
The two suspects are still on the run after joining traffic and cycling away in the direction of Liverpool Street station.
The City of London Police said the three victims did not suffer life-changing injuries and were treated at a local hospital.
Cyclist Toby Hamand, 36, who kicked the bicycle wheel of one of the suspects, said the tall attacker waved a 6cm knife in his face and told him to “back off”.
He told The Telegraph: “He held it in his fist and sort of raised his hand up to sort of show me and I immediately was like, ‘Okay, not going anywhere near this’.
“It was just kind of weird. I’m actually shaking.”
He added: “At the same time, you know, it makes me feel good that people got involved. Like bystanders didn’t just let it happen.”
A nearby shopkeeper said one of the suspects pulled a knife out and “started stabbing” the 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 passed the shop. He had something stolen from him. A few people tried to help him he looked like an office worker to me.
“I saw two people trying to stop the robbers near the traffic light.
“I couldn’t leave the shop to help. The next thing I heard there was a stabbing. I saw four people lying down on the floor. It was so scary.”
The stabbing took place as Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was appearing on a live radio show highlighting the strides being made against knife crime.
Inside the police tape, medical kits could be seen spread out on the ground in small piles while blood could also be seen on the pavement.
Chief Superintendent Steve Heatley said: “We received reports of three stabbings and a person pushed to the floor on Bishopsgate at 9.46am and officers arrived at the scene at 9.51am.
“Three victims were taken by London Ambulance Service to a nearby hospital to be treated. They do not have life-threatening injuries.
“Two suspects are being sought as part of the ongoing investigation related to an attempted phone theft and the incident is not being treated as terror-related.
Anyone with information about the incident should use the Major Incident Public Portal: https://bit.ly/3RNk0no or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
