LEIGH-ON-SEA, England (AP) – A long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death Friday during a meeting with constituents at a church in England, an attack that united Britain’s fractious politicians in shock and sorrow. A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene.
Police said that counterterrorism officers were leading the investigation into the slaying of Conservative lawmaker David Amess but that they had not yet determined whether it was a terrorist attack. They did not identify the suspect, who was held on suspicion of murder.
“The investigation is in its very early stages,” Essex Police Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington said.
The slaying came five years after another MP, Jo Cox, was murdered by a far-right extremist in her small-town constituency, and it renewed concern about the risks politicians run as they go about their work representing voters. British politicians generally are not given police protection when they meet with their constituents.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he and his Cabinet were “deeply shocked and heart-stricken.”