This is the moment a brave railway worker approaches the suspect in the Huntingdon railway attack – before turning and warning passengers to keep fleeing.
The worker, in a high–visibility jacket, sees the man calmly strolling down the platform in a black hooded jacket after injuring 11 people in a heinous knife attack on an LNER train on Saturday evening.
CCTV footage exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail shows passengers fleeing down the platform shortly after 7.40pm on November 1.
Today police charged a man over the attack. Anthony Williams, 32, of Peterborough, is also charged with one count of actual bodily harm and one count of possessing a bladed article following the attack on Saturday night.
Williams has also been charged with another count of attempted murder and a further count of possessing a bladed article in connection with an incident in London.
The second incident is said to have unfolded at Pontoon Dock station on the capital’s Docklands Light Railway (DLR) on the same day. It is understood a victim is alleged to have suffered a facial injury.
Police had initially used the codeword Plato – for a ‘marauding terror attack’ – and rail staff responded with appropriate bravery. Terrorism has since been ruled out as a motive.
In the footage, passengers on the 6.25 Doncaster to London Kings Cross service can be seen running for their lives after the driver made an emergency stop in Huntingdon.
‘They’re on their way, don’t worry,’ says the orange–clad rail worker, referring to the armed police who would eventually subdue the suspect.
He pleads with passengers: ‘Keep going straight down for me, move away please.’
This is the moment a brave railway worker approaches the suspect in the Huntingdon railway attack – before turning and warning passengers to keep fleeing
People flee down the platform at Huntington station, their panic soundtracked by the blaring emergency alarm on the train.
Seconds later, a lone man appears on the platform, having emerged from the train.
The rail worker, who is walking back up the platform, sees him and appears to think he’s another ordinary passenger.
‘This way please sir – can you run down here please? Move faster for me,’ he calls out – and then begins to back away as he realises he’s staring down the suspected attacker.
The worker then shouts to passengers: ‘Down, move down, move now… please run. Move!’ He then breaks into a run as he, too, is forced to run for his life.
Seconds later, the man crosses the tracks and leaps over a fence and disappears from view.
He would be apprehended by police armed with Tasers moments afterwards, subdued next to a set of bins.
Nine of the 11 injured people were left fighting for their lives – with five people discharged from hospital as of last night.
The most seriously injured worker is understood to be an LNER worker in the buffet carriage, who witnesses said stepped forward in a bid to stop the attacker as horrified passenger huddled behind the counter of the cafe.
He is in a ‘critical but stable’ condition today.
‘That man was an absolute hero’, a rail source told the Mail. ‘He fought this guy, who had a large knife, to try to stop him hurting any more passengers.’
Witness Thomas McLachlan, 19, from London, who was returning from a trip to Newcastle, described how people were leaving the train ‘drenched in blood’. He told the BBC: ‘I heard the words ‘he’s been stabbed’ and I saw the panic spread among the faces of the people of the carriage.
‘A couple of minutes after that the train pulled into Huntingdon and I saw loads of other passengers getting off absolutely drenched in blood.
‘There was one man clutching a white sheet to his head who looked like he was stabbed twice. [There were] really severe injuries. And there was just general fear among everyone involved.’
A 35–year–old man who was arrested at the scene has since been released with no further action after police established he was not involved in the attack.
Footage obtained by the Mail appeared to show him scream ‘it’s not me’ as he was tasered by police officers who mistook him for the attacker.
The innocent man walks down the train platform at Huntingdon – where the train driver was forced to make a diversion – only to be struck down by police with a Taser.
Officers yell ‘get down, get down’ at the passenger before he suddenly falls to the ground, seemingly crying out in pain.
He then shouts, ‘it’s not me, it’s not me’ several times as he lies face–down on the ground and is put in handcuffs.
The suspected attacker is believed to have said ‘the Devil’s not going to win’ as he came at passengers with a knife.
Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy, of the British Transport Police, said: ‘Our investigation is moving at pace and we are confident we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.
‘As would be expected, specialist detectives are looking into the background of the suspect we have in custody and the events that led up to the attack.
‘Having viewed the CCTV from the train, the actions of the member of rail staff were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved people’s lives.’
LNER boss David Horne said the firm was ‘deeply shocked and saddened’ by Saturday’s events.
Huntingdon station will remain closed until the end of today. The LNER Azuma train on which the attack took place was moved out this morning.