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Police arrested a 31-year-old man at London Airport on Sunday after a robbery in which 21 people, including a 3-year-old child, were pepper sprayed and required medical treatment, officials said.
The Metropolitan Police said the early morning incident took place in a parking garage at Heathrow Airport when a group of four men stole a woman’s suitcase in a lift and sprayed her with irritant spray.
“A woman was robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men who sprayed her with a substance similar to pepper spray,” Commander Peter Stevens said in a statement. He said the elevators and passengers in the surrounding area were also affected.
Police said the suspects fled from the lift after the incident. The Associated Press (AP), citing a witness, reported that they appeared to be three young men dressed entirely in black and with their heads covered.
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Armed police officers arrived at the Heathrow Airport parking garage following reports of a pepper-spray attack. (Tom Bate/Reuters)
The video shows a swarm of officers rushing to the scene of the attack, entering the multi-story parking garage with large firearms.
Authorities said the victim and suspect knew each other and that investigators are not treating the case as a terrorism-related incident.
“At this stage, we believe this incident involved a group of people known to each other, where an argument escalated and resulted in a number of people being injured,” Stevens said.
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An emergency vehicle outside Heathrow Terminal 3. (Andrew Matthews/PA Images)
“We are not considering this incident as terrorism,” he said. “I understand the public’s concerns and would like to thank people in the area for their co-operation this morning.”
A 31-year-old man is being held on suspicion of assault, and authorities are searching for other suspects who fled, authorities said.
Police officers look down from the upper level of the Heathrow Airport parking garage as they search for suspects in a pepper-spray attack. (Tom Bate/Reuters)
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Ambulance crews treated the victims at the scene and transported five to hospital. According to officials, his injuries are not considered life-threatening.
The incident caused hours of travel delays for passengers arriving and departing at the airport, but operations have returned to normal, according to the airport in a post on Twitter.
Fox News Digital contacted the Metropolitan Police and Heathrow Airport for more information.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
