LONDON — A police officer shot and killed a man wearing a fake bomb on London Bridge on Friday, after several people were stabbed in what the police called a terrorist incident, which paralyzed one of the busiest arteries through the city.
The chaotic clash, in a country where shootings are rare, involved several officers and civilians, and sent scores of people fleeing from the bridge and areas near it on both sides of the River Thames. It also revived memories of recent terrorist attacks in London, including one on the same bridge in 2017 that killed eight people.
“It has been declared a terrorist incident,” Neil Basu, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said of the episode on Friday.
Video posted on social media showed a crowd surrounding a man whom they appeared to be wrestling with and holding to the ground as police officers arrived. One man can be seen carrying a large knife away from the area as at least three police officers respond with their guns drawn.
The police pulled the other people away from the man on the ground, and then an officer appeared to fire at least one shot, hitting the man and prompting screams from bystanders.
“Due to reports that the suspect may have had an explosive device, specialist officers also attended the scene,” Mr. Basu said. “However, I can confirm at this time, we believe a device strapped to the body of the suspect is a hoax explosive device.”
The man died at the scene, he said.
The Metropolitan Police said that they had initially responded to reports of a stabbing in a premises near London Bridge around 2 p.m. and that one man had been arrested and a number of people were injured.
Additional videos posted on social media showed police vehicles blocking both sides of the roadway on London Bridge.
One witness described seeing the police shoot a man who was wielding a knife.
As the police cordoned off the area, empty buses and abandoned vehicles remained parked on the bridge. In the nearby Borough Market, a food and drink space that is popular with tourists, visitors were told to shelter in place, before eventually being evacuated.
Mayor Sadiq Khan of London said in a statement that he was in close contact with the police, and urged those in the city to follow police directions.
“We must — and we will — stay resolute in our determination to stand strong and united in the face of terror,” he said. “Those who seek to attack us and divide us will never succeed.”
The British Transport Police said that the nearby London Bridge station, one of the city’s busiest transit hubs, had been closed.
John McManus, a BBC reporter who was crossing the bridge at the time of the incident, told the news outlet that he had seen a group of men involved in a fight with another man on the bridge. The police then arrived, and “a number of shots were fired at this man.”
Matthew Marchand, 37, whose office faces the bridge, said it was “scary to think that this happens on your doorstep somehow.”
“It puts you back on edge,” Mr. Marchand said. “Every single attack makes you feel a little worse about safety.”
He said he was surprised that such an episode could happen despite the safety measures put in place after previous terrorist attacks. “But it must have unfolded so quickly. What can you do about it?” he said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a statement thanking the police and emergency services for their “immediate response” and said he was being kept updated. The incident came two weeks before Britain is scheduled to hold a general election.
Those in the area around London Bridge described the panic in the moments after the attack. Noa Bodner, who was stuck in a restaurant near London Bridge, told BBC News that those sheltering inside had been told to keep away from the windows.
“There was a rush of people coming in, and everybody basically dived under the tables,” she said. The manager ran to lock the doors, and employees told people to move away from the front of the restaurant.
Susan Vinn, 57, said that she had been outside her office shortly after 2 p.m., when she saw people running across the bridge and into her office lobby.
“It’s horrible,” she said of the attacks that have rattled London in recent years. “We know it’s going to happen again, we just don’t know when, so that keeps us worried for sure.”
In the 2017 attack on the bridge, a van careered onto the sidewalk, mowing down pedestrians, and then three attackers leapt from the vehicle and struck people with knives. They killed eight people before being killed by the police. Those men were also wearing fake suicide vests.
Earlier that year, a car plowed into pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge. Six people, including the attacker, were killed.
Elian Peltier contributed reporting.
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