LONDON — The man who killed three people in a terror attack near Parliament was identified Thursday as Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old man with a lengthy rap sheet but no known prior terrorism convictions, police said. Police say Masood - who was known by a number of aliases - was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intentions to mount a terrorist attack. Police said Masood, 52, was known to authorities and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and public order offenses. His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage; his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife, police said. LONDON — In a horrifying attack in London on Wednesday, a lone assailant plowed a car into crowds of people gathered on Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer dead outside UK Parliament. In a statement published today by its media outlet, Amaq News Agency, ISIS called the attacker “a soldier of the Islamic State” and said he “carried out the operation in response to calls to target citizens of the international coalition.”

During a press conference this morning, Metropolitan Police acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said eight people were arrested in connection with Wednesday’s attack after overnight raids at six locations, including in Birmingham and London. Other details that have emerged:
• None Police have said he is a lone wolf maniac who was inspired by “Islamic terrorism”
• None Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed in Parliament that he was once investigated by MI5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism. • Speaking before Masood was named, Prime Minister Theresa May said the attacker was known to authorities for links to “violent extremism.”
• He was investigated “some years ago” by security services, but was regarded as a “peripheral figure,” May said in the House of Commons. There was no prior intelligence of his intent or the plot.”

She said that as a precautionary measure, the number of armed police patrols across the country would be rolled out. Mark Rowley, national lead for Counter Terrorism Policing and Met Acting Deputy Commissioner confirmed the sites raided included properties in London and a Birmingham flat close to where the car used in the attack was rented. A spokesperson for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, an American car rental company headquartered in Missouri, confirmed to ABC News that the vehicle used in Wednesday’s attack in London was rented from one of its branches in Birmingham, England. The terrorist responsible for yesterday's attack sped across Westminster Bridge in a car, ploughing into pedestrians along the way, then ran through the gates of the nearby parliament building and stabbed a police officer to death. Three people, including a police officer, were killed and at least 29 others were injured in Wednesday’s attack, which authorities have declared a terrorist incident.
London's Metropolitan Police Service announces that the attacker is British-born Khalid Masood, previously questioned by British authorities for connections to terrorism.