A man accused of brandishing a sword in a London shooting that killed a teenager, seriously wounded two police officers and wounded two men appeared in court Thursday to face charges of murder and attempted murder.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 36, who has dual Spanish and Brazilian citizenship, is charged with murder in the death of 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, killed while walking to school on Tuesday morning in a northeast London suburb.
Prosecutor David Burns said Monzo crashed his van in Hainault before 7am on Tuesday and ran over a man. He then got out of the truck and told the man that he would kill him before slitting his throat.
He then broke into a nearby house, where a couple was sleeping with their four-year-old daughter. She screamed that she believed in God and attacked the girl’s father, injuring his neck and arm.
Monzo then ambushed Anjorin, slitting his neck and stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground.
When police officers arrived and tried to help the boy, Monzo jumped out of the bushes and ran, Burns said. Officers gave chase and Monzo lunged at a female officer, who received “terribly serious injuries”, Police Commissioner Mark Rowley told LBC Radio.
Rowley acknowledged that the officer almost lost a hand and said surgeons spent hours “basically putting his arm back together.”
The agent’s partner also suffered serious injuries to his arms and hands in the confrontation.
Force reinforcements later cornered Monzo and used a stun gun to subdue and detain him.
Police have said the incident was not treated as terrorism-related and did not appear to be targeted.
Monzo, dressed in a gray tracksuit with his left arm crossed over his chest due to the injury in the van crash, pleaded no contest at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was detained. Another hearing was scheduled for Tuesday at the Central Criminal Court known as the Old Bailey.
He is charged with two counts each of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, along with single counts of aggravated robbery and possession of a sharp article.
The tribunal came as London voters go to the polls to elect their mayor and local council members after a campaign in which crime and confidence in the capital’s police force were major issues.
Rowley, who heads the Metropolitan Police Service, applauded his officers for running into danger. He said they arrived 12 minutes after receiving the first call and the suspect was detained 10 minutes later.