New CCTV footage appears to show the alleged Covent Garden attacker leaving the area after four men were stabbed with a pair of scissors.
The victims were taken to a major trauma centre following the attack near the busy central London district on Thursday afternoon.
The Metropolitan Police said a 47-year-old woman was arrested after the incident, while four men were treated for their injuries. Officers believe the attack may be linked to mental health.
Footage seen by the Daily Mail shows the suspect walking past the Rock & Sole Plaice restaurant on Endell Street at 12.27pm, shortly after several men had been stabbed.
In the video, she is seen wearing brown trousers, a white top and a navy blue cardigan as she passes members of the public, including diners seated at a nearby restaurant.
Police officers and paramedics were called to Endell Street at around 12.30pm after reports of the stabbings. A police cordon was set up at the scene, while an air ambulance helicopter was seen landing in nearby Trafalgar Square.
Scotland Yard said the injured men are aged 34, 39, 42 and 52. A pair of scissors was recovered from the scene.
The woman arrested after the Covent Garden stabbing was being held on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and assault.
A local barber at 2 Chairs Grooming Room, who did not want to be named, said a man covered in blood stumbled into his salon after being stabbed.
New CCTV footage shows the alleged Covent Garden attacker walking away from the scene after stabbing four men with scissors
Police officers arrested a woman after four people were stabbed in central London
The 36-year-old told the Daily Mail he then pursued the suspect down the street, where she threatened him before she was arrested.
The man, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘The guy fell into the barbers covered in blood with a stab wound in his back.
‘He was shouting “call the police, call the police”. I chased her down the street.
‘I thought she was crazy, drunk. Clearly unwell. She was not talking.
‘The police were there within minutes.’
A woman is said to have approached people outside the Shaftesbury Theatre showing the musical Avenue Q.
Two men were reportedly stabbed in the back there ‘with scissors’, before others were attacked further along Endell Street.
Carlos, a resident of St Mungo’s homeless hostel, claimed he knew the suspect to be a Romanian resident of the same hostel.
Carlos said: ‘I know her from the hostel, she is Romanian.
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‘She did a big hit on the crack pipe today before going out and stabbing all those people.’
A man wearing a blood-soaked shirt was seen alerting police officers to his injuries
Police and paramedics were called to Endell Street in central London after four men were stabbed on Wednesday afternoon
An air ambulance helicopter was seen landing in Trafalgar Square after nearby stabbings today
Arjan Gjorga, who owns the Rock and Sole Plaice restaurant and witnessed the attack, said a woman involved in the incident was known to people who worked on the street.
He said: ‘I see her all the time, she’s a homeless person. She walks up and down asking for help, she visits the church at the top of the street.
‘We all saw a commotion, people were running away. It was totally random, just random people. She suddenly started stabbing them. The police reacted immediately, they arrested her right away.
‘The police were there within minutes.’
Later on Wednesday, Scotland Yard said two of the victims remained in hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing, while the other two have now been discharged.
A London Ambulance Service Spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 12:29pm today (5 August) to reports of a stabbing on Endell Street, WC2H.
‘We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car and an incident response officer. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.
‘We treated four patients at the scene and took them all to a major trauma centre as a priority by road.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that the four men were found with stab wounds after officers were called at about 12.27pm.
‘They have since been taken to hospital and we await an update on their injuries,’ the force said.
A 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault. She was taken to custody where she remains.
‘Police remain in the area, with a scene in place on Endell Street and the surrounding areas in Covent Garden.
‘The force added that this was believed to be “a mental health-related incident” and that officers had seized a pair of scissors at the scene.’
