Russell Square murder: when cool, calm and crazed Zakaria Bulhan met Darlene Horton and Yovel Lewkowki
Russell Square knife attack: when cool and calm Zakaria Bulhan met Darlene Horton and Yovel Lewkowki, A round-up of media news on a suspected murder in London.
The BBC: “Russell Square stabbings: Man arrested on suspicion of murder”
A man. Anything more about this man who allegedly murdered a US citizen called Darlene Horton, 64, an innocent on holiday in London with her husband? Not yet. Not on the BBC.
Police believe the attack in Russell Square on Wednesday was “spontaneous”, with victims “selected at random”.
He just went nuts? He saw a knife, picked it up and just went nuts, allegedly knifing to death Darlene Horton and stabbing five others from Britain, America, Israel and Australia?
Police arrested a 19-year-old Norwegian national of Somali origin. They say there is no evidence of radicalisation.
So why mention it, then? And radicalised by who or what? The BBC does not say.
The Met Police’s assistant commissioner for specialist operations, Mark Rowley, said the investigation was increasingly pointing to the attack being “triggered by mental health issues”.
Aren’t they always. Mental health issues can pretty much describe anything and everything. Maybe instead of using a Taser to down the alleged killer, the police should have called in an emergency therapist?
The Guardian: “London stabbing: suspect is Norwegian Somali with ‘no evidence’ of terror – as it happened”
The Israeli woman injured in the Russell Square stabbings is an 18-year-old from Tel Aviv on a pre-enlistment trip to London…
What you might call ‘holiday’.
Yuval Labkovsky was returning to her hotel with her grandfather, after eating in a Thai restaurant, when she was set upon. Labkovsky was lightly injured in her hand during the stabbing attack and released after treatment in hospital.
She tells YNet news
“On the way back from the hotel, I heard screams and saw two men running toward me… I was afraid that it was a terror attack and was sure the two men were running away from the incident.
“I approached the first and felt a pain in my hand. I thought I was just hit, but it turned out he was the stabber. The second man, who was chasing him, was the man who tried, and later succeeded, in catching him.
“I saw a woman lying on the floor, covered in blood. Her husband supported her. Suddenly I realized I was also bleeding. I’m not afraid in Israel, so I have no reason to start being afraid in London.”
In Israel the stabbings are not random and spontaneous. They are organised. Mental illness is not given as a factor. But to the Guardian the alleged’s killers mind is an issue:
Jo Loughran, interim director of Time to Change, the mental health anti-stigma campaign run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, has urged the media to ensure any reporting of a mental health element to the Russell Square attacks is “informed and balanced”.
She says:
We understand that the police have released an update about the tragic incident at Russell Square stating that mental health is an increasingly significant factor in this case. The media must rightly report on this angle but we encourage them to do so responsibly.
They report on that angle because it’s easy.
There have been a number of horrendous acts of violence committed across Europe over recent weeks. As the media look to unpick these extremely complex incidents to explore motivations and reason we urge journalists and editors to provide well informed and balanced coverage of mental health. Millions of people experience mental health problems every year and the overwhelming majority will never pose a risk to others.
Maybe – just maybe – he wasn’t driven to it by mental illness. Maybe – just maybe – the alleged killer is not the victim here.
Daily Mail: “Russell Square ‘knifeman’ named this evening as Somali-born Zakaria Bulhan, 19, from Tooting, south London”
And on mental health?
Police called to Russell Square at 10.30pm last night after crazed man ‘went on the rampage’ with kitchen knife
Not mentally ill, then. He was crazy!
Zakaria Bulhan, 19, moved to the UK from Norway in 2002, and was said to be suffering possible ‘mental health issues’ when he allegedly began silently stabbing his unsuspecting victims in a busy London street last night.
His former friends from Graveney School in Tooting, south London, have now revealed how Chelsea football fan Bulhan was a quiet boy who was bullied in the early stages of secondary school. One friend said: ‘He was quite quiet, but had friends. He was a little bullied but nothing too extreme.’
A victim of bullying and poor mental health, then.
Earlier today, police raided the south London council flat where he lived with his family. Neighbours of alleged knifeman said his mother was ‘really nice’ but knew little about her two sons… The family live on the middle floor of a three-storey block of flats next to St George’s Hospital in Tooting…
The unnamed woman said: ‘There was lots of policemen there this morning. The mother is always here. She’s really kind and friendly and always opened the door and got parcels for us.
Parcels?
‘They’re a Muslim family, the mother always wore a full black burka.’
Relevant?
A downstairs neighbour confirmed that a mother and two young men live in the flat. He said… ‘I’ve never had a conversation with either of the two boys. Apparently they are Somalian but they all speak with an English accent. The mother is really quiet. She always has her hijab on but she’s a very pleasant woman and speaks proper English’.
Burka or hijab? No photos of her to help us decide, but plenty of the aforesaid Israeli woman, now called Yovel Lewkowki:
Says Yovel:
‘The attacker was dark-skinned and bald and the knife he was holding was a small kitchen knife,’ she said. ‘He was very calm and cool.’
No crazed, then. Calm and cool.
Posted: 4th, August 2016 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
