Bystanders praised for confronting London attacker with narwhal tusk, fire extinguisher

CTV National News: Remembering London's victims The stabbing rampage in London that killed two has now become a political issue in the country's election campaign. Paul Workman reports.

TORONTO — Video footage taken during the London Bridge attack shows two bystanders using a narwhal tusk and a fire extinguisher to detain the suspect before police opened fire.

Several brave witnesses attempted to disarm attacker Usman Khan before police arrived. In one video, one man is seen spraying the knife-wielding suspect with a fire extinguisher while another man is running towards him with a 1.5-metre-long narwhal tusk.

A plainclothes officer was also involved in the takedown of the suspect. Video footage shows him slowly backing away from the scene holding one of the attacker’s knives.

The Times reports the man armed with the long-pointed tooth is a Polish employee of the Fishmongers’ Hall named Lukasz.

On Friday afternoon, witness Amy Coop, who was inside the hall, tweeted that she saw a guy take the narwhal tusk off the wall to “confront the attacker.”

“You can see him standing over the man (with what looks like a white pole) in the video,” she wrote. “We were trying to help victims inside but that man’s a hero.”

Others echoed her sentiments, hailing Lukasz for his quick-thinking actions.

“Three members of the public armed with a fire extinguisher and a Narwhal tusk take the attacker down. Heroes,” wrote Darren Plymouth. While Grace Beverley remarked that she’s still “getting over the fact that someone grabbed a 5 ft NARWHAL TUSK to fight the London Bridge attacker. Hero.”

On Saturday, London Police Counterterrorism Chief Neil Basu praised the actions of witnesses and officers.

“We’re still piecing together the exact details of what happened, but it is already clear that this cowardly act was immediately countered by some incredible acts of bravery by both members of the public and police officers,” said Basu.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan praised the "breathtaking heroism of members of the public who literally ran towards danger not knowing what confronted him," according to The Associated Press. “They are the best of us.”

The 28-year-old attacker was wearing a fake explosive vest and armed with a knife when he began his attack inside Fishmongers’ Hall. Khan was tackled on the London Bridge before police shot and killed him on Friday. Two people died in the attack.

With files from The Associated Press