One of the two murderers has been named as 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo. He's the whacko who is seen in the footage with the bloody hands and carrying bloody weapons. Despite the fact that he says, in the video, (which was filmed by a brave member of the public) 'I apologise that women had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same' he is a native Londoner. He was born in the London Borough of Lambeth, in south London, to a devout Christian family.
At the age of 15 or 16 he started getting involved in Islam and started to speak about Jihadi ideas.
He joined several extremist groups - including Al Muhajiroun - that were banned in Britain and in 2003 converted to Islam, calling himself Mujaheed while at Marshalls Park School.
Fearing he had become radicalised, his parents moved him away from Romford, north east London, to a village in Lincolnshire.
A former friend told the Evening Standard that he was a Christian.
The friend said: 'He started getting involved with Islam aged about 15 or 16, and that is why his parents moved him away out of the area. It is utterly shocking to see what he has done. It’s unbelievable.'
The security services, including MI5, were aware of him and his accomplice, who has not been named but is believed to be from Harold Hill, close to Romford in north east London.
Both are still alive and are recovering at hospital. One is at King's College Hospital in the London Borough of Southwark, south London. One is in a serious condition.
It has also been confirmed that the man who was killed WAS a serving British soldier. At 2.20pm yesterday afternoon he was was walking back to the Woolwich Barracks wearing a Help for Heroes t-shirt when crazed Adebolajo and his accomplice, who were in a Vauxhall Tigra, mounted the pavement and ran him over, crushing his body against a road sign.
Witnesses said the terror suspects then 'hacked and chopped' at his body like 'crazed animals', before dragging his corpse into the middle of the road leaving a trail of blood.
As they apparently tried to decapitate him they were chanting 'Allah Akbar!’ – an Islamic phrase meaning ‘God is great’ - and yelling 'this is what God would have wanted'.
Crazed: 28-year-old Londoner Michael Adebolajo
A blood-soaked Adebolajo, who was still holding a number of weapons in his red-stained hands, then ranted on camera (above) in a clear London accent saying: 'You people will never be safe' before telling a passer-by they had not fled because they were waiting to 'shoot the police'.
Within minutes armed officers arrived and the fundamentalists charged at them wielding firearms, knives and a machete.
Police opened fire, shooting six bullets, leaving one seriously injured. The pair remain under armed guard in two separate London hospitals.
The Metropolitan Police today defended their response to the killing after eyewitnesses claimed they took up to 20 minutes to arrive at the scene.
Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne, said: 'One point I would like to address is around some of the speculation as to how long it took the Met to respond yesterday as this incident started to unfold.
'We first received a 999 call from the public at 2.20pm stating a man was being attacked, further 999 calls stated that the attackers were in possession of a gun. We had officers at the scene within nine minutes of receiving that first 999 call.
'Once that information about a gun or guns being present was known firearms officers were assigned at 2.24pm. Firearms officers were there and dealing with the incident 10 minutes after they were assigned, 14 minutes after the first call to the Met.'
It has also been confirmed that police have raided two properties, one in Lincolnshire and one in Romford in north east London.
Officers raided the detached property in Lincolnshire early this morning just hours after the unidentified victim was hacked to death with meat cleavers as dozens of witnesses watched.
Neighbours said the same family had lived in the house in Lincolnshire for about a decade
A second search in the early hours of this morning concentrated on a house believed to belong to a woman related to Adebolajo in Romford.
Detectives and forensic officers were examining the top floor flat belonging to Blessing Daniels. They were seen taking plastic boxes into the block. Other officers sat in a white transit van outside the estate.
At 5.30am there was also a raid on a property in Greenwich, south east London, not far from Woolwich, where witnesses said four people - two sisters in their 30s, an older woman and a teenage boy - were all taken away in a Scotland Yard van.
It is understood the men, who are being treated in separate hospitals while under arrest, are most likely to be British citizens of Nigerian descent who have converted to a radical form of Islam.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson today visited the scene of the attack and told the press that justice will be applied swiftly to the two terrorists.
Boris Johnson this morning entered the security cordon at the scene in Woolwich
Last night Newsnight correspondent Richard Watson said: ‘I received a very interesting phone call from a source who knows the British jihadi scene very well and [he] said that one of the attackers was Nigerian in origin, has been living in the UK for many years, [and] was radicalised by the Islamist group Al Muhajiroun [a banned extremist group] in 2003.
'He suggested to me that just last year this young man was stopped or arrested ... on his way to join Al Shabaab in Somalia.'
A woman lays flowers outside the Royal Military Barracks where it is believed the soldier was stationed
David Cameron today said: 'We will defeat violent extremism by standing together, by backing our police and security services and above all by challenging the poisonous narrative of extremism on which this violence feeds.
Speaking about the courageous actions of Mrs Loyau-Kennett who spoke to the killers after the attack added: 'When told by the attacker he wanted to start a war in London she replied "you are going to lose. It’s only you versus many." She speaks for us all.'
David Cameron today praised the actions of Ingrid Loyau-Kennett for standing up to the alleged killers
Adebolajo's accomplice was seen talking to 48-year-old Ingrid Loyau-Kennett as she calmed the men down to keep the peace. When told by the attacker he wanted to start a war in London she replied "You are going to lose. It’s only you versus many."
One person left a Help for Heroes t-shirt in recognition of the top the soldier was wearing at the time of his death
The victim lies on the floor (circled left) while the man believed to be Michael Adebolajo is treated by a police officer (circled right)
Soldiers were initially told not to wear uniforms outside the barracks, but Cobra decided this would not be the right response to the attack
Last night the crime scene remained swarming with police and forensic teams who illuminated the road with spotlights as they examined evidence under large tents.
As they worked, more than 100 members of the English Defence League (EDL) - who protest against Islamofascism - gathered around the scene, with many draped in St George’s flags and wearing black balaclavas.
Riot police holding shields formed a cordon around the area as the EDL members waved flags and chanted 'no surrender to the Muslim scum', ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘England’.
Leader Tommy Robinson addressed the crowd, saying: 'We have got weak leadership. They have allowed this to happen. People are scared to say the word Muslim. They are scared to offend them.
‘You know what? We are offended. People in this country are angry. They have had enough.’
They threw bottles at police before being dispersed by officers by 11pm.
A number of EDL supporters then headed to the local Queen’s Arms pub where they sang nationalistic songs.
There were tense scenes last night as members of the EDL converged on Woolwich
Police formed a cordon around the area as members of the group waved flags and chanted 'no surrender to the Muslim scum'
The EDL marchers threw bottles at police before being dispersed by officers by 11pm
EDL leader Tommy Robinson addressed the crowd