Additional Coverage:
LONDON – An early morning altercation at London’s Heathrow Airport on Sunday led to one arrest and multiple injuries after a group of men allegedly deployed what is believed to be pepper spray in a parking garage. Authorities have confirmed the incident is not being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Met Police Cmdr. Peter Stevens stated that officers were dispatched to the Terminal 3 parking garage just after 8 a.m. local time following reports of several individuals being assaulted. According to police, a group of men sprayed a number of people with what is suspected to be a form of pepper spray before fleeing the scene.
One man has been taken into custody on suspicion of assault, though his identity has not yet been released. He remains in police custody.
“At this stage, we believe the incident involved a group of people known to each other, with an argument escalating and resulting in a number of people being injured,” Stevens explained.
Ambulances transported several injured individuals to local hospitals. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening, and the exact number of those injured has not been disclosed.
Despite the disruption, Terminal 3 remained operational, though police noted “some disruption of traffic” near the parking garage. Commander Stevens assured the public that police presence would be increased throughout the airport, one of Europe’s busiest, for the remainder of the morning.
Heathrow Airport advised passengers via social media to allocate additional travel time and to contact their airlines for any inquiries.