London attack: Student describes scene after Westminster terror incident

An eyewitness to the scene following a suspected terrorist attack in London has described the moment armed police told him he was at risk of being shot.

Mr Sam Philbrick, who grew up in Claypole and attended Highfields School, Newark, was at Portcullis House as part of a four-day trip to London with 83 MA students from the University of Sheffield.

They had earlier sat in the House of Commons’ public gallery for Prime Minister’s Questions and were at Portcullis House to meet Paul Blomfield, the MP for Sheffield Central.

They were on one of the upper floors of Portcullis House and quickly became aware of the unfolding drama outside.

Mr Philbrick, 26, said: “We turned round and saw one of the bodies on the bridge, and then everybody running in various directions.

“Police were there within 50 to 60 seconds.

“We couldn’t see the other bodies but we knew where they were because there were so many police and emergency services around them.

“We did not know what had happened at all.

"The first thing we heard was an armed police officer running through Portcullis House saying ‘get back from the windows, you could get shot’.

“We heard on his radio ‘officer down’.

“The security operation was instantaneous. There were officers seemingly coming out of the walls, running around.”

'Complete and utter lockdown'

The MA students were next to the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, who reported live from the room.

The attacker is believed to have knocked down people while driving over Westminster Bridge before crashing his car. He then ran towards Parliament where he stabbed unarmed PC Keith Palmer, before being shot dead by armed police.

Following the attack, the students were put into a conference room and followed events through social media.

Mr Philbrick, who previously worked in London for a recruitment firm, said: “Some of the MPs and their staff were allowed to go back to their offices if they were located at the back of Portcullis House.

“The rest of us were taken to the Norman Shaw North building.

“We were there for about three-and-a-half hours. It was complete and utter lockdown.

“We were being told conflicting messages by different people in different uniforms.

“Initially some people in our group were shocked and there was quite a lot of confusion, but as we got more information that subsided quite a bit.

“We eventually were released via the gardens exit at about 8.30pm-8.45pm. Every single person was interviewed by police before they could leave.”

Five people – including the attacker – have been confirmed as dead following Wednesday’s attack, while a further 40 were injured.

Despite the events, Mr Philbrick said he did not believe security needed to be altered in the Houses of Parliament.

“There is no way of policing the entirety of London,” he said.

“And there is no fear among us today. At breakfast this morning there were no murmurings of anybody being nervous.”