WOOLWICH MAJOR INCIDENT: BLACK WEDNESDAY AT JOHN WILSON JUNCTION by Benson Agoha

There was a major incident in Woolwich Arsenal today as a man made a short speach on camera and then walked on to attack a serving soldier with a matchet, at the John Wilson Junction, a short distance from the Job Centre Plus, Town Hall and The Woolwich Centre Building which houses the Greenwich Council. Reports say it was gruesome and the victim was actually decapitated. Police were called in.

Details are emerging. The men made no immediate effort to run away but, according to media reports, police actually shot two people immediately on arrival. Some eyewitness accounts claim the two men shot were charging towards police and were very threatening.

At the time of this report, one person is confirmed dead, while two others are in hospital.

Shoppers on the Powis Street, were surprised as Helicopters were hovering above for sometime. At some point, there were about two helicopters. One was later confirmed to be Live transmission helicopter from SkyNews. A woman on the High Street was very agitated and was seen talking on her phone about an attack which had occured. She was shouting "They killed him, they killed him."

* Three lay on ground.

Another shopper at the British Heart Foundation on Powis Streed, said she got a call from her husband who was attempting to warn her that attack had occured on John Wilson Junction. She was not sure of the scale of the attack, but was visibly shaken.

At the time I contacted police, they told me information was still very sketchy, although I could see white and yellow canopies errected at the scene of the incident, as police forensice attend to the place.

* Forensic Experts at scene

Early reports say the men were overheared shouting on the scene and they did not make any immediate attempt to run away. They were said to have attempted to film the victim lying on the floor at the scene.

At the time of going to press a view footage of one of the attackers speaking to camera had already been ubtained and released by the ITV news.

* Aerial view of John Wilson Junction, Woolwich.

Eye witness accounts included Lorraine, who says she works in the security industry at North Greenwich. She said she is very shocked and shaken at this incident. According to her, she was in a bus when the attack happened and when she looked out through the window, she saw man lying on the floor. She got off the bus.

Another witness was Temison Egbe, Nigerian, who was on her way out for dinner when she spoke to the press. Temison said she lives on John Wilson Street and actually looked out through her window, when the incident happened. She said "at about 2.30pm this afternoon, I heard police siren and looked out through my kitchen window. I saw about 15 police officers and a man lying on the floor. Two men were injured - one was stretchered out while the other was airlifted by the helicopter ambulance, then police sealed off the place."

* Ambulance at scene of major incident.

Speaking to the media crew, Temison said she does not feel safe especially because this level voilence. She said "I feel unsafe because of what has just happened, and there is an old-peoples' home in the area and I wonder how will be feeling to when they hear of the attack. But I did not hear any gun shots. This area appears to be getting hotter now, but we have not seen anything like this for a long time".

When asked whether she was able to identify the victims, Temison said the "the man that was airlifted by the helicopter ambulance was white because I saw his legs and he was wrapped in blanket, but the one that was stretchered out was black".

When asked whether she could confirm that the attackers shouted "allahu akbar!" at the scene, she said she could not confirm that as she did not hear any shouts.

Residents of Woolwich are shocked. One woman said she got a call from her daughter who was in Hastings in East Sussex to warn her about the attack and to stay indoors. She expressed surprise and shock at the scale and babarism of this attack in an area that was otherwise very quiet. She said, "we are really surprised at this incidence. Woolwich is otherwise usually quiet and this sort of thing does not usually occur".

Her friend said "we are truly surprised and shocked. This kind of thing is unheared of here".

* Ahmed Chama lays flowers

Another man who spoke to the media says he is a `local citizen' and identified himself as Ahmed Chama came and dropped flowers at the point of police tape. When asked why he was doing that, he said he felt back that a life has been lost and wanted to pay his respects to the family of the victim. He said "I am concerned with the report that the attack has islamc motivation. I feel that these are people who just love to go about killing people and shouting allahu akbar! Such things should not happen, but people should not blame it on Islam."

* Helicopter Arriving at scene.

Woolwich is going through a massive regeneration programme and the council is investing massively to see it through. In recent years, there has been new buildings and business arring in the area. For example Tesco opened one of its biggest shops that opens 24 hours a day in Woolwich. Domino also has its biggest Piza eat-in and take-away shop in Woolwich. Woolwich has seen the arrival of Travelodge and TK Maxx in recent months and Royal Arsenal Hotel is under construction. The council has marked more areas for regeneration.

* Sympathisers going to lay flowers at scene of attack.

Woolwich is host to two entry points into the DLR station and is one of the beneficiaries of the Crossrail project in the Southeast, with the Woolwich Station Box now completed. All this mean changing skyline and opportunities for employment and business for residents.

* Helicopter: Police seal street