Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the investigation here.
British lawmaker David Amess, a member of Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party, died after being stabbed several times at a constituency meeting east of London.
Amess, 69, a member of Parliament who represented Southend West in Essex, was attacked at around midday Friday by a man who walked into a meeting with voters from his electoral district being held in a Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea.
“He was treated by emergency services but, sadly, died at the scene,” Essex police said.
Here’s what else we know about the investigation:
The suspect: A 25-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering Amess on Friday is believed to be a British national with Somali heritage, official sources have told the PA news agency. “A 25-year-old man was quickly arrested after officers arrived at the scene on suspicion of murder and a knife was recovered,” Essex police said.
The investigation: The UK’s Counter Terrorism Command will lead the investigation into the murder, police said later Friday. “It will be for investigators to determine whether or not this is a terrorist incident. But as always, they will keep an open mind,” Ben-Julian Harrington, Chief Constable of Essex Police, told reporters.
“Tragic day for our democracy”: Former Prime Minister David Cameron said Amess was “a kind and thoroughly decent man” and “the most committed MP you could ever hope to meet.” “Words cannot adequately express the horror of what has happened today. Right now, my heart goes out to David’s family,” Cameron said. Cameron’s successor Theresa May added the news was “heartbreaking” and “a tragic day for our democracy.”
Britain’s second murdered lawmaker in five years: The killing was another grim moment in Britain’s political history. It marks the second murder of a sitting British lawmaker in five years, after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her constituency in 2016, and has reignited discussions about the safety of the UK’s elected officials.
Boris Johnson was joined by all of his living predecessors in expressing shock, and lawmakers from every corner of the political spectrum spoke of their sadness, their concern, and their anger after another of their colleagues was killed while meeting with his constituents. “David was a man who believed passionately in this country and in its future,” Johnson said in a statement from Downing Street. “We lost today a fine public servant.”
About Amess: He entered Parliament in 1983, initially representing the Basildon constituency. He served continuously in the House of Commons since then, making him one of the longest-serving lawmakers in the chamber. Amess was knighted in 2015 for his political service. He supported Britain’s departure from the European Union, and his main areas of expertise were animal welfare and pro-life issues, according to a biography on his website.
In March, Amess asked a question in Parliament about how to stop “senseless murders” with knives, after a teenager in his constituency was killed in a knife attack.
A 25-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering British lawmaker Sir David Amess on Friday is believed to be a British national with Somali heritage, official sources have told the PA news agency.
Amess, a member of Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party, died after being stabbed several times at a constituency meeting east of London.
Amess, 69, a member of Parliament who represented Southend West in Essex, was attacked at around midday Friday. The suspect had walked into a meeting with voters from his electoral district being held in a Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked all police forces to “review security arrangements for MPs with immediate effect and will provide updates in due course,” her spokesperson told CNN Friday in a statement.
Earlier on Friday, Patel said she was “devastated” to have lost “not only a fellow Essex MP, but a kind and loyal friend,” referring to British MP David Amess.
In a series of tweets Patel said that “questions are rightly being asked about the safety of our country’s elected representatives” and she “will provide updates in due course.”
The investigation into the fatal stabbing of MP David Amess will be led by counterterrorism officers, Essex Police chief constable Ben-Julian Harrington said in a statement at the Southend Police station.
“It will be for investigators to determine whether or not this is a terrorist incident,” he added.
Amess died earlier today after being stabbed several times at a constituency meeting east of London.
United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at Friday’s daily briefing that the UN is “extremely saddened” by the death of UK lawmaker David Amess and that lawmakers need to be allowed to be free to work and not fear attacks.
MP David Amess was “loved and worked hard for his community,” local councillor John Lamb said Friday, speaking to CNN affiliate ITN.
Lamb, who also serves as vice chair of the Southend West Conservative Association, said it was “absolutely horrendous” that Amess was murdered while doing his “normal work” that he loved so well.
Amess was very much a “community MP” who “loved to come out and meet his residents,” according to Lamb.
Lamb painted the picture of a man “who was one to support the community,” saying that he regularly attended local events for veterans and children among others.
He said he had a “very good working relationship” with Amess, clubbing together on efforts to get local town Southend-On-Sea recognized as a city.
“It didn’t matter what your party was. If you went to him with a problem, he would help you. It didn’t matter what culture you were; he would help you,” Lamb added.
Members of the community have gathered in front of the church where British lawmaker David Amess was killed to leave flowers and balloons in his honor, CNN producer Nada Bashir reports.
Amess, 69, a member of Parliament who represented Southend West in Essex, was stabbed midday Thursday by a man who walked into a meeting with voters from his electoral district being held inside the Methodist Church.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called MP David Amess “one of the kindest, nicest, most gentle people in politics” following Amess’ death after being stabbed during a constituency meeting.
“All our hearts are full of shock and sadness,” Johnson said.
“He also had an outstanding record of passing laws to help the most vulnerable, whether the people are suffering from endometriosis, passing laws to end cruelty to animals,” Johnson told reporters.
Johnson was also asked about the safety of members of Parliament following the deaths of Amess and MP Jo Cox in 2016.
“What we need to do now is let the police get on with their investigation, and I’m sure that all those issues will be considered in the proper time, but I think this is a moment for us to think of Sir David, his wife, his family, and our thoughts very much with them,” Johnson said.
Essex Police just confirmed officers arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with the stabbing death of David Amess.
Here’s the full statement from police:
Essex police says it has arrested a 25-year-old man, recovered a knife from the scene, and are not looking for anyone else in connection with the death of David Amess.
“We want to say thank you to the members of the public who alerted so quickly,” it added.
David Amess, the British lawmaker killed in a knife crime on Friday, had asked a question in Parliament in this March about how to stop “senseless murders” with blades.
In the House of Commons, Amess addressed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and said:
Less than two weeks later, he raised the issue again, saying, “I raised the issue of knife crime in the Chamber earlier this month and was told by the Prime Minister that we have more than 6,000 ‘of our target extra 20,000 police already recruited.’ I hope that Essex police recruit enough police officers to stop any more violent crime.”
A sharp object — including a knife — is the most common murder weapon in England and Wales, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics.
In the year ending March 2020, there were 275 homicides by this method, “an increase of 15 offenses (up 6%) compared with the previous year and the second highest annual figure since 1946,” according to the February 2021 report.
More than one-third (40%) of the 600 homicides in the year to March 2021 were by knife or other sharp instrument, the ONS reported.
At least 238 people were killed in England and Wales with a knife or another sharp instrument in the year ending March 2021, down from 250 in the 12 months before that, the ONS reported in July.
That fall included several periods of coronavirus-related lockdown, the statistics agency noted.
More than one-third (40%) of the 600 homicides in the year to March 2021 were by knife or other sharp instrument, the ONS reported.
Rev. Jeff Woolnough, a priest at St. Peter’s Parish in Leigh-on-Sea, said he feels “totally numb” following British lawmaker David Amess’ death after being stabbed at a constituency meeting.
Woolnough said Amess was a practicing Catholic and called him “generous, good-humored, caring, passionate about people.”
“He’s totally unique. One of the greatest guys, seriously, that I’ve ever worked with, and I mean that,” he said.
Woolnough’s parish will have a mass at 6 p.m. local time, he said.
“We will have silence because we need to be quiet now. We just need to reflect on this terrible thing and pray for Julie, his wife, and his family, and for all members of Parliament,” Woolnough said.
British lawmaker Sir David Amess, who died after he was stabbed on Friday, was “not a man who voiced extremist opinions,” CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports.
The incident marks the second murder of a sitting British lawmaker in five years, after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her constituency in 2016.
Conservative MP Sir David Amess died Friday after he was stabbed several times at a constituency meeting in his Essex district.
Amess’s stabbing is the second murder of a sitting British lawmaker in five years, after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her constituency in 2016.
In a book he wrote last year about being a Member of Parliament, Amess said that Cox’s murder was “totally unexpected” and that the event had changed the way MPs interact with members of the public, particularly in relation to constituency surgeries.
“These increasing attacks have rather spoilt the great British tradition of the people openly meeting their elected politicians,” he wrote in “Ayes & Ears.”
At least two former UK prime ministers have reacted to news of Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) David Amess’s killing Friday.
David Cameron, who served as prime minister from 2010 until 2016, called the news “devastating, horrific & tragic.”
“He was the most committed MP you could ever hope to meet,” Cameron said.
Gordon Brown, who served as prime minister before Cameron from 2007 until 2010, offered his condolences to Amass’s friends and family.
Theresa May, who served as prime minister from 2016 until 2019, called the stabbing “heartbreaking” and described Amess as a “decent man and respected Parliamentarian.”
Former prime minister Tony Blair, who served in the role from 1997 to 2007, said he was “shocked and horrified” by the murder of Amess.
“David and I came into Parliament together in 1983,” he said in a statement.
“Though on opposite political sides I always found him a courteous, decent and thoroughly likeable colleague who was respected across the House,” he said.
“This is a terrible and sad day for our democracy,” he added.
David Garston, a local Conservative councillor of Southend West in Essex, said Sir David Amess was an “irreplaceable” constituency MP whose approachability left him “vulnerable.”
The councillor said that when Sir David came to his ward, “you couldn’t get very far because he’d stop every hundred yards to talk to somebody.”
He said: “It was always very slow with Sir David but he’s paid the price for being so easily got at unfortunately and I just think it’s dreadful.
“The community have lost a really good MP who cared deeply for them and he’ll be a very, very hard act to follow. To find an MP like Sir David, who didn’t think about ministerial position – he wasn’t interested, he was a community man – I would say he’s irreplaceable,” he added.
Amess,a Member of Parliament who represented Southend West in Essex, was stabbed at around midday local time by a man who walked into a meeting with voters from his electoral district being held in a Methodist Church, a witness at the scene told Reuters. He was treated by emergency services, but died at the scene, police said.
British Conservative lawmaker David Amess has died after being stabbed multiple times at a constituency meeting east of London.
Amess, 69, who represents Southend West in Essex, was stabbed at around midday by a man who walked into a meeting with voters from his electoral district being held in a Methodist Church, a witness at the scene told Reuters.
He has been an active lawmaker in UK parliament, sponsoring bills including the Abortion (Amendment) Bill (1996-7), the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act (1988) and the Warm Homes Bill, which passed into law in December 2000 as the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act, according to his website.
He was one of the longest-serving members of parliament, first elected to represent Basildon in 1983. He then stood for election in Southend West in 1997 and was knighted in 2015’s New Year’s Honours List for his political and public service.
Amess supported Brexit ahead of the 2016 EU referendum. His website lists animal welfare and abortion rights as his main interests.
The deadly stabbing of Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Sir David Amess is the second murder of a sitting British lawmaker in five years, after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her constituency in 2016.
The latest stabbing brings back “the pain, the loss, but also how much love the public gave us,” Cox’s husband, Brendan Cox, tweeted after Amess’s killing.
British lawmakers and leaders are paying tribute to Sir David Amess after he was stabbed to death on Friday. Amess, 69, was a British Conservative lawmaker and Member of Parliament who represented Southend West in Essex.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie Johnson:
Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn:
Conservative MP Tracey Crouch:
Labour Member of Parliament Zarah Sultana:
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
