Khalid Masood (Metropolitan Police)
Khalid Masood, the London terror attacker, was a middle-aged father who once worked as an English teacher.
Masood, 52 – identified by police as the assailant in the attack on UK Parliament – was described as a British-born father and husband with a criminal record and several aliases, who was a peripheral figure to intelligence services.
The Sun reported that Masood sometimes used the alias “Khalid Choudri.”
Forty were injured and three killed in the terror attack, in addition to the suspect, who was shot by a police officer. Masood was described by neighbors as a religious convert, and ISIS has labeled him a “soldier” of the Islamic state.
Here’s what you need to know about Masood and his family:
1. Masood Was a Married Father of Three Who Lived Until Recently in Birmingham
According to The Sun, Masood was a “married dad-of-three.” Sky News also reported that Masood had a wife and three children, and said they lived most recently in Birmingham, England.
A person who knew Masood professionally told Sky News he was “a big bloke,” adding: “He looked like he was a bodybuilder, (you) wouldn’t want to mess with him.”
That source told Sky News that Masood was a “very religious, well spoken man. You couldn’t go to his home in Birmingham on Friday because he would be at prayer.” According to The New York Post, a neighbor said of Masood: “He had a wife, a young Asian woman, and a small child who went to school.”
The Guardian reported that Masood “was born in Kent but was believed to have been living in the West Midlands most recently.”
2. Neighbors Described Masood & His Wife as an ‘Ordinary Family’ & Said the Attacker Was Seen Gardening
Been speaking to people living next to house raided in Winson Green.Say Khalid Masood used to live here, recognised him from stretcher photo
Marjoli Gajecka, 26, told The Washington Post that her mother lived next to the apartment of Masood and his family.
“They were just an ordinary family. I would never have assumed that he was in any way related to terrorist activity,” she said to the newspaper.
The Post reported that neighbors described how Masood was “sometimes seen in his garden, playing with his children.”
The Guardian reported that Masood was “was born in Kent and detectives believe he was most recently living in the West Midlands.”
3. Masood Was Obsessed With Bodybuilding & Was an English Teacher
The scene after the attack. (Getty)
Masood was once an English teacher and was obsessed with body building, according to UK Daily Mail.
A neighbor said one of his children was age 5 or 6, and “There was a woman living there with him, an Asian woman. He seemed to be quite nice, he would be taking care of his garden and the weeds,” reported UK Daily Mail.
The site reported that, according to the neighbor, Masood moved out in December.
4. Masood Had a Lengthy Criminal Record & Neighbors Called Him ‘Vampire’
Armed police officers stand guard, as ambulance paramedics arrive at the Carriage Gates entrance of the Houses of Parliament in central London on March 22, 2017. (Getty)
Neighbors dubbed Masood “vampire” because they said he was known to “have regularly gone out at night, dressed in black clothing,” UK Mirror reported.
According to The Sun, Masood had a lengthy criminal record, but there was nothing in his record relating to terrorism.
He had “previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offenses,” reported the British news site, which added that his “first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.”
Police made a series of arrests in the London terror attack, but it was not yet clear what, if any, tie they had to Masood, reported The Guardian.
5. Four People Died in the Attack, Including an American Tourist & an English Police Officer
Kurt and Melissa Cochran, tourists from Utah, were both injured on Westminster bridge during the London terror attack. Kurt has died from his injuries, but Melissa is expected to recover. The Americans recording studio. (Facebook)
Masood was shot and killed in the terror attack after ramming into people with his car on Westminster bridge and then stabbing to death police officer Keith Palmer. Masood was then shot to death by another police officer before he could make his way into the House of Commons.
UK Parliament was suspended, and the prime minister, Theresa May, was whisked away from the scene. Also killed in the attack were Kurt Cochran, an American Tourist on holiday with his wife for their anniversary and Aysha Frade, a college worker.
Cochran’s wife, Melissa, was also injured in the attack.
