A police officer guards the scene of a knife attack on August 4, 2016 in London.
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Terrorism ruled out in London knife attack (2016)
02:01 - Source: CNN

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Zakaria Bulhan, 19, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Monday

American tourist Darlene Horton, 64, was killed in the attack last August

London CNN  — 

The man accused of killing an American woman and wounding five other people in a London knife attack has been charged with murder, London’s Metropolitan Police said Friday.

Zakaria Bulhan, 19, has admitted stabbing a woman to death and injuring five other people in a knife attack in London last year.
Zakaria Bulhan, 19, has admitted stabbing a woman to death and injuring five other people in a knife attack in London last year.
Metropolitan Police

Zakaria Bulhan, 19, pleaded guilty at London’s Central Criminal Court to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. Darlene Horton, 64, of Tallahassee, Florida, was killed in the August 2016 attack.

At Monday’s hearing, Bulhan also admitted five counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. “Without warning or provocation, the man stabbed six people in quick succession, saying nothing to any of them, moving on after each stabbing towards his next victim,” prosecutor Mark Heywood said.

Bulhan had been due to stand trial on one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

“We have considered expert evidence from both prosecution and defense psychiatrists who have concluded that Bulhan was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and experiencing a psychotic episode at the time. For that reason, we have agreed to accept Bulhan’s guilty plea to manslaughter based on his diminished responsibility,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.

Police said Bulhan is a Norwegian national of Somali origin. Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service said he had emigrated from Norway in 2002.

The attack sparked a major police operation and initially there were fears that it might be linked to terrorism. That was found not to be the case, but Bulhan still poses a significant threat to the public, police said.

“He clearly poses an enormous risk to the general public and I hope he can now get the help he needs,” police Detective Inspector Tony Lynes said in a statement.

Darlene Horton, 64, was killed in the London knife attack in August 2016
Darlene Horton, 64, was killed in the London knife attack in August 2016
METROPOLITAN POLICE LONDON

Victim was with her husband

Horton was married to Florida State University psychology professor Richard Wagner, who was teaching a summer session in London for the university.

The couple had been out for dinner and were heading back home when the stabbings happened.

The stabbings late Wednesday night rattled the city and came just hours after authorities announced an increased police presence there following recent terrorist attacks across Europe.

The stabbings happened in Russell Square, in busy Bloomsbury district of west-central London, near the British Museum.The incident rattled the city and came just hours after authorities announced an increased police presence there following recent terrorist attacks across Europe.

A sentencing hearing for Bulhan began Monday and will continue Tuesday.