How soldier’s brutal murder unfolded

May 22

• 2.20pm - Police respond to a “serious incident” in John Wilson Street following reports of an assault. London Air Ambulance are also called.

• Eyewitnesses say two men have been shot by armed police after a man wearing a Help for Heroes t-shirt was attacked with a machete-style knife and dumped in the street.

• Prime Minister David Cameron describes the killing as ‘’truly shocking’’ and asks the Home Secretary to chair a meeting of Cobra, the Government’s emergency committee. He will cut short an official visit to Paris to return to the UK to co-ordinate the Government’s response.

• Metropolitan Police Commander Simon Letchford confirms that the two attackers were shot by armed officers.

• Shocking footage emerges of a black man wielding a bloodied meat cleaver at the scene moments after the attack, saying: ‘’We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.’’

The footage, filmed by an eyewitness and shown on ITV News, shows the man speaking with an English accent and apologising to members of the public who witnessed the horrific scenes before making a number of political statements.

• At a news conference in Paris alongside French President François Hollande, Mr Cameron says Britain has faced terror attacks such as the one in Woolwich before, adding: ‘’We will never buckle in the face of it.’’

• The Cobra meeting is told there are strong indications that the attack was a terrorist incident, Downing Street confirms.

• The Muslim Council of Britain condemns the attack as a “truly barbaric act” that has no basis in Islam.

• Around 50 supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) gather at Woolwich Arsenal train station near the scene and throw bottles at police.

• The Daily Telegraph reports the story of a cub scout leader from Cornwall who confronted the Woolwich attackers, asking them to hand over their weapons.

• Two men are arrested after separate attacks on mosques in Gillingham, Kent and Braintree, in Essex.

May 23

• Sources say the Woolwich killers are of Nigerian background, who are most likely to be British citizens converted to a radical form of Islam.

• Anti-terror police prepare to question the two suspects who remain in separate hospitals under armed guard.

• Mr Cameron makes a statement outside 10 Downing Street in which he declares that the brutal terrorist murder will bring the UK together and ‘’make us stronger”.

• It is confirmed the two men shot by police after the terrorist murder of a soldier were both known to security services. (Reuters)