Londoners react to pepper spray attack at Heathrow Airport

The Met Police have said the incident is not terror related.

Transcript

00:00Yes, a child was among the victims in a pepper spray attack at Heathrow Airport.

00:07The aggressor has since been arrested and is now in police custody.

00:12The Metropolitan Police Service has confirmed the incident is not being treated as a terrorist act

00:19and as of the 8th of December, they believe it to be an isolated incident.

00:25Now, police understand that the incident began after a woman was robbed of her suitcase in a lift in the Terminal 3 car park

00:34by a group of four men who then sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray in her direction.

00:42The incident is not believed to be connected to terrorism or protest, officers have added.

00:48Now, in total, 21 people were injured at London's busiest airport,

00:55an attack that forced parts of Heathrow to shut down, with flights delayed and passengers stranded.

01:03A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault, while police continued to search for others involved.

01:11Now, the disruption rippled across the capital's transport network.

01:17Trains were delayed and the Terminal 3 car park was completely closed.

01:22Emergency services were called just after 8am, according to Commander Peter Stephens.

01:29Those involved were believed to know each other and officers are working to establish precisely how the situation had escalated.

01:39But there was an incident at Heathrow Airport, and although it isn't a terror incident,

01:44how do Londoners feel about that sort of thing happening at such a major place in the capital?

01:51I think if you go to an airport now, you expect you to be very busy and you know there's going to be a risk attached to it.

01:57What more can be done, I can't imagine.

02:00But yes, I think everyone will like to feel more secure, but they know that there is a risk to travel.

02:05And if you've got crowds of people, how do you control who's in the crowd?

02:09So yes, I'd like to see more.

02:10I don't know how it can be done.

02:12I think there's as much security as there can be.

02:14I think it's fine.

02:17I don't feel particularly unsafe travelling, or at least not any more unsafe than you travelling around London.

02:22I think these incidents are bound to happen anywhere.

02:26There's a high population of people, a high density of people.

02:28But I don't see it as being anything particularly unique in its danger.

02:34I do feel safe.

02:35There's a lot of security, but we can't let things like that happen.

02:40I think I'm being realistic knowing that London is a capital city,

02:43and you can't control who comes in and comes out.

02:46So it's very, very hard to control.

02:48Not happy about it, but not terribly sure.

02:51Even if I had a magic wand, what would I do?

02:54Just close the borders and don't let anyone in and let no one out?

02:57That might help, but it doesn't guarantee safety.