Westminster Attack Prompts Officials In The US, Italy And Scotland To Boost Security

In the hours after an unidentified assailant stabbed a policeman and wounded several bystanders outside of the British Parliament building Wednesday, New York City and San Francisco boosted security around potential targets, though officials cautioned that there was no apparent threat outside of London.

The New York Police Department heightened its protection of the British Consulate in the city, as well as the country’s United Nations mission, the local ABC7 News reported.

Read: Is London Safe? Attack On UK Parliament Raises Terrorism Security Concerns Citywide

The U.S. State Department was also monitoring the “concerning situation” as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Reuters.

On the other side of the country, officials in San Francisco responded to the incident with a “heightened level of vigilance” at the city’s airport, according to NBC Bay Area.

In Connecticut, authorities kept a close eye on the situation in London, but, as Hartford Police Chief Walter Lee told the local Courant, they were "at a heightened level here at all times anyway."

Outside the U.S., Italian officials planned to convene in Rome Thursday for "an evaluation of the terrorist threat" related to the London attack, the Associated Press reported.

The Scottish government, meanwhile, took extra measures to ensure its own parliament was safe.

"While there is no intelligence to suggest there is a specific threat to Scotland, Edinburgh or Holyrood, we have increased security with immediate effect at the Scottish Parliament as a precaution," the chief executive office of the Scottish Parliament said in a statement, according to the newswire. “We are aware of a developing situation at Westminster this afternoon and are monitoring matters very closely.”

Read: London Parliament Attack Live Updates: Gunshots, Injuries Reported In Westminster

Police shot the assailant in London after the unnamed man, armed with a knife, killed four people and wounded at least 10, in what the London police was investigating as “a terrorist incident,” according to a statement from Commander B. J. Harrington. The city's police, he said, encouraged the public to avoid Parliament Square, Whitehall, Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge, along with parts of Victoria Street and the Victoria Embankment.