22 June 2020

There is no formula for attacks such as the Reading stabbings – but they can still be prevented

It is a mistake to concentrate on process when a long-term approach that considers our national story is needed.

A picture shows police tents and equipment at the scene of a fatal stabbing incident that is being treated as terrorism in Forbury Gardens park in Reading, west of London, on June 21, 2020. - British police said Sunday they were treating a stabbing spree in which a lone assailant killed three people in a park filled with families and friends in the southern English city of Reading as a "terrorism incident". (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

It is an all too familiar story by now: a lone actor pops up somewhere and attacks ordinary people going about their business, often ascribing the carnage to some broader cause. That is precisely what happened on Saturday night, in Forbury Gardens in Reading, where three people were killed and three more were injured in a stabbing attack. A 25-year-old Libyan refugee, who was arrested within minutes of the attack, is being questioned by counter-terrorism officers.

A similar attack occurred in February, when a 20-year-old man stabbed three people on Streatham High Road in south London. Already under police surveillance, he was quickly stopped before he was able to kill anyone.