Masood said in a final text message that he was waging jihad in revenge for Western military action in Muslim countries in the Middle East.

[4] The previous terrorist attack to have caused multiple casualties on the British mainland had been the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

Having been knocked unconscious and sustained severe injuries from the fall, she was rescued by the crew of a river cruise and brought aboard a London Fire Brigade boat.

[15] Masood, wearing black clothes, got out of the car and ran around the corner into Parliament Square and through the open Carriage Gates where he fatally stabbed an unarmed police officer, PC Keith Palmer.

[23] Passers-by, including MP Tobias Ellwood (the Foreign Minister for the Middle East and Africa) and paramedics, attempted to revive PC Palmer, also without success.

[32][33] The UK government's emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBRA) committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, met in response to the attack.

[42] A tourist from the United States also died; he was visiting London from Utah to celebrate his 25th anniversary with his wife, who was among the injured.

[17][43] The fourth victim was a 75-year-old man from Clapham in south-west London, who was hit by the car and later died in hospital after his life support was switched off.

[44][45] A fifth victim, a 31-year-old tourist from Romania, fell into the Thames during the attack; she died in hospital as a result of her injuries on 6 April after her life support was withdrawn.

[57] He was sentenced to two years in prison in 2000 for grievous bodily harm during a knife attack in a public house in Northiam in Sussex.

[65] In early March 2015, he made a brief trip to Saudi Arabia on an Umrah visa, normally issued to those making a pilgrimage to Mecca.

[53][64] In 2010, Masood was described as a "peripheral figure" in a MI5 investigation of a group of Islamists later convicted of plotting to bomb a Territorial Army base in Luton.

[66][67] The Metropolitan Police said he was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.

[84] On 27 March, Basu announced that Masood clearly had an interest in jihad, that his methods echoed the rhetoric of Islamic State leaders and that investigators have found no evidence he was linked with it or al-Qaeda.

In it, Masood reportedly said he was waging jihad in revenge for Western military action in Muslim countries of the Middle East.

By the morning of 23 March, six locations in East London and Birmingham had been raided resulting in the arrests of eight people on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

[92][20][53] By 25 March, only one man from Birmingham remained in custody and the woman on bail from East London had been removed from police enquiries.

[94] Inquests for the dead victims were opened and adjourned on 29 March 2017, and into Masood's death the following day,[23] both under the Senior Coroner for Westminster, Fiona Wilcox.

[102] On 23 March, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh faith leaders met officers at Scotland Yard to discuss responses to the attack.

It was led by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the Home Secretary Amber Rudd and the Acting Metropolitan Commissioner Craig Mackey and attended by leaders of different faiths.

[111] On 24 March, Prince Charles visited victims of the attack at King's College Hospital;[112] Tobias Ellwood was appointed to the Privy Council for his role in rendering aid to PC Palmer, as was security minister Ben Wallace MP, who helped co-ordinate the government response.

She announced a meeting with similar technology industry leaders for 30 March, where she would persuade them to voluntarily co-operate with the government.

[119][120] As part of the 2019 New Year Honours, six other constables, Andy Dunmore, John Kenealy, Stephen Marsh, Mary Mayes, Richard Moore, and Jerry Pearce, received the British Empire Medal following the attack, and PC Nick Carlisle was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

Acting Detective Sergeant Zac Idun, nurse Joy Ongcachuy, Peter Boorman of NHS England, and Claire Summers were all made OBEs for services in investigating the attacks and assisting the victims and their families.

[152][146] On the evening of the attack, the Brandenburg Gate in Germany and Tel Aviv City Hall in Israel were illuminated with the Union Jack.

[165] On 23 March, Jean-Marc Ayrault, France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, came to London, where he first visited the hospital where three French high school students injured in the attack were being treated and later attended the morning session in the House of Commons.

The cameras recorded the involvement of the emergency department and intensive care staff over the next few hours, and then followed the cases of three patients until their discharge.