Two Injured in Stabbing at Sony Music Office in London
By Stewart Clarke
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – UPDATED: Two men were arrested after a stabbing incident in which both were injured at Sony Music’ London office on Friday.
One member of Sony staff told the BBC that the men, both catering workers, had been “running around, chasing each other.” Both were later arrested by police, who confirmed that the injuries are non-life-threatening.
The police were called at 11am London time to the incident, and the music label’s office was evacuated. The authorities said that no firearms were involved and it is not being treated as a terror-related incident.
“Officers, including firearms officers, and London Ambulance Service are in attendance,” a Metropolitan Police statement said. “Evacuations have taken place as a precaution. Two people have suffered stab injuries – their conditions are not life-threatening or life-changing.” The identities of the arrested people were not immediately released.
’s London office issued a statement after the incident: “Sony Music confirmed there was an incident at Derry Street resulting in the building being evacuated. Two members of the catering team were involved in a violent altercation. The incident is now in the hands of the Metropolitan Police.”
“There was a lot of shouting and commotion. It looked like they were having a fight,” one witness told the Standard . “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.”
Sony Music’s offices are in upmarket Kensington, west London, which is the home to several international embassies and a royal residence, Kensington Palace, meaning there is routinely a visible police presence in the area.
The Sony Music office is in a separate part of the capital to Sony’s film and TV operations, but Simon Cowell’s Syco is based there.
One person was pictured being taken out of the Sony HQ on a stretcher. The London Ambulance service told Sky News: “We treated two people at the scene. We took one to hospital and one to a major trauma center.”
Pictures posted to social media showed armed cops outside the office, and Sony staff being evacuated. As-yet-unconfirmed reports said there was a fight between two staff inside the Sony building.
