The Arrest

In the dazed moments after the butchering of Lee Rigby, one of the women asked the two killers if they were going to harm anyone else. Adebolajo replied; “No. The women and children are safe. You need to keep back when the police and the soldiers get here’

Unarmed police arrived at 14:29. It will be another five minutes before armed response arrives. “They ...know that the police are not going to intervene immediately because they’re going to have to wait for armed officers. That means...10-15 minutes...waiting for armed officers. In truth they could have attacked members of the public during this time. They could have just gone after anyone who was there but they don’t do that...you have them talking to people allowing themselves to be filmed, knowing that this was going to be posted online in the aftermath. Even if some of the main stream news sources didn’t want to publish it, it was still going to get out there.” Professor Andrew Silke – Programme Director for Terrorism studies, University of East London.

Adebolajo and Adebowale had made their barbarically simple point. They didn’t need to kill anymore. Now, it was them who wanted to die. “...they wanted the armed police to shoot them dead.  So they would become martyrs.” Vikram Dodd - Crime Reporter, The Guardian.

At 14:34 the police shot the two men. Both Adebolajo and Adebowale went down. But the police had merely made sure they were wounded and incapacitated. Adebolajo had been shot through his bicep. The two killers would not be made martyrs. The same officers who shot them, now administer first-aid. And both men were then sped to hospital.

At 2am the next morning, Lee’s mother’s worst fears are confirmed. It was then she was informed of her son’s murder. Even the press realise the extraordinarily shocking and sudden nature of the killing. They agree to withdraw from the family’s immediate area and wait for a formal statement.