Four men stabbed in Covent Garden, woman arrested for assault
Four men were stabbed in central London on Wednesday, with police arresting a woman in connection to the attack.
Police responded to reports of a stabbing at Endell Street in Covent Garden at 12:27pm, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
There, they found four men – aged 34, 39, 42 and 52 – with stab wounds. They were transported to a major trauma centre, according to the London Ambulance Service.
A 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault, police said. Investigators believe the stabbing was mental health-related incident. A pair of scissors were recovered at the scene.
The current condition of the victims has not been released. Police remain at the scene.
Key events
Caroline Davies
Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, who leads policing in the area, said a statement on X: “Officers responded within minutes of this incident after receiving a number of reports.
“While still at an early stage of the investigation, we would like to reassure the community that we currently believe this to an isolated, mental-health related incident.
“A visible police presence will remain in the area while evidence is gathered at the scene and we thank the public for their understanding.”
Matt Bishop, 42, who works at a consultancy firm just next to scene, told the Press Association that the woman arrested appeared “quite old” and had short hair.
“She didn’t seem to be particularly coherent. She was pretty incoherent in what she was shouting. The officer was asking what language she was shouting,” he said.
Helena Horton
Witnesses said it looked like a woman used a pair of scissors to stab the four men.
Andrea, the manager of the Da Mario restaurant on Endell Street, said he recognised the woman.
“She’s often on the street. We’ve seen her do things like this before. She’s recently got in an argument with a mate and thrown a bottle of vodka on the floor and it smashed outside the restaurant,” he said.
As of 3:30pm, the cordon was no longer in place and Andrea was serving tiramisu to his customers.
Helena Horton
Arjan Gjorga, who works at fish restaurant the Rock and Sole Plaice, witnessed the attack. He believed that the woman is known to the workers on Endell Street, a popular road in Covent Garden for eating and drinking.
“I see her all the time, she’s a homeless person. She walks around up and down asking for help, she visits the church at the top of the street,” he said.
He didn’t have to close his restaurant but he said: “We all saw a commotion. People were running away”.
The victims appeared to be chosen at random, Gjorga said. “It was totally random, just random people. She suddenly started stabbing them,” he said.
He praised the police response. “The police reacted immediately. They arrested her right away.”
According to the Metropolitan Police, knife crime offences have dropped 3% for year-to-date 2026 compared to year-to-date 2025 across the Met service area.
This includes an 11% reduction in knife-enabled robberies and a 1.5% reduction in knife-enabled crime where a knife was used to injure.
The London Ambulance Service said an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car and an incident response officer had rushed to the scene and treated the four men before transporting them to a major trauma centre by road.
However, the ambulance service also dispatched London’s air ambulance. Video posted on social media shows a red helicopter making a dramatic landing in the middle of a crowded Trafalgur Square.
Four men stabbed in Covent Garden, woman arrested for assault
Four men were stabbed in central London on Wednesday, with police arresting a woman in connection to the attack.
Police responded to reports of a stabbing at Endell Street in Covent Garden at 12:27pm, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
There, they found four men – aged 34, 39, 42 and 52 – with stab wounds. They were transported to a major trauma centre, according to the London Ambulance Service.
A 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault, police said. Investigators believe the stabbing was mental health-related incident. A pair of scissors were recovered at the scene.
The current condition of the victims has not been released. Police remain at the scene.
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