Terrified office workers 'cower under tables' as armed police storm Sony Music HQ in London

Armed police today stormed the Sony Music HQ in London as terrified office workers cowered under tables amid reports of a fight between two chefs in which one was stabbed with a seven-inch kitchen knife. 

Sony employees heard screaming coming from the canteen on an upstairs floor of the office on Derry Street in Kensington, West London, which also houses Simon Cowell's entertainment company. 

A man was arrested and two people injured, with one the casualties taken to a hospital and the other to a major trauma centre, although their condition is not thought to be life-threatening.

Dramatic footage later showed a casualty being wheeled away in a stretcher, while in another video a man was led away in handcuffs, apparently unhurt.    

Shocked workers inside the Sony building told of the unfolding chaos as police ordered everyone to evacuate.  


One told the Standard: 'It was between two kitchen staff. They were in uniform.

'There was a lot of shouting and commotion. It looked like they were having a fight. One had fallen over and was on his back and the other was standing over him. I thought he was raining punches down, but then I saw the knife.

'It was about six or seven inches long, and he was standing over him trying to get him, stabbing downwards as the other man put his arms up to defend himself.

'He was going nuts. There was a lot of shouting.

'Other staff were standing around - they didn't want to get too close because he had a massive knife.'

He said he saw the victim, who worked for a catering contractor, stabbed in the upper thigh, before the pair were separated.

'The guy with the leg injury had a towel wrapped around his leg, and the attacker was sitting down on the floor, still obviously very angry, with people trying to calm him down, and paper towels wrapped around his arm.'

Photos showed a large number of police cars and ambulances in front of the building in the upscale neighborhood.

The witness said there were two areas of blood on the floor, while another woman appeared to have been slightly hurt after apparently falling over in the melee.

A Sony employee, who did not want to be named, said: "We just heard screaming and running and people slamming doors.' 

The men, who are employed by a catering company, were "running round chasing each other" and "slashing each other up", he added.

A worker inside the building tweeted at just after 11am: 'Under tables in a locked office in the Sony building and there's banging and screaming downstairs. Freaking out!!!'

She later added: 'There was a stabbing downstairs. All our remaining in our locked rooms but we think police are now here.'

One onlooker said: 'Large crowds of people began exiting the building's front door at around 11 o clock.

'Most were running, all towards Kensington Square Garden. Several were visibly panicked and some were screaming.'

A Sony staff member, who did not want to be named, told MailOnline: 'I heard people screaming and everyone literally legged it, people started pouring out the emergency exits.

'I don't know the ins and outs but it was scary. I know there's lots of knife crime but you don't expect it to happen around here.'

Another added: 'We just heard screaming in the canteen. Then we ran for the fire exit.'





MailOnline