British police said on Friday that counterterrorism officers are leading the investigation into the murder of Conservative lawmaker David Amess, The Associated Press reported.
However, Essex Police Chief Ben-Julian Harrington said it has not yet been established whether the stabbing was a terror attack.
A 25-year-old man is being held on suspicion of murder.
Amess was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents at a church east of London.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he and his Cabinet were “deeply shocked and heart-stricken.”
“David was a man who believed passionately in this country and in its future, and we’ve lost today a fine public servant and a much-loved friend and colleague,” Johnson said, according to AP.
The Prime Minister would not say whether the attack meant politicians needed tighter security, saying, “We must really leave the police to get on with their investigation.”
Amess had been a member of Parliament for Southend West, which includes Leigh-on-Sea, since 1997, and had been a lawmaker since 1983, making him one of the longest-serving politicians in the House of Commons.
His murder came five years after another MP, Jo Cox, was murdered in her small-town constituency by a man linked to a neo-Nazi group.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)