Report: Suspect in London knife attack tried to commit suicide

Corrections and clarifications: A previous version of this story contained two quotes first reported by the Evening Standard that Paste BN could not confirm for accuracy.

LONDON — The teenage suspect in the fatal stabbing of a woman from Florida in the British capital tried to commit suicide three times in the last six months, according to a media report.

The man, named by local media as Zakaria Bulhan, 19, remained in police custody Friday after Darlene Horton, 64, was killed and five others injured in the attack in Russell Square, an area popular with tourists in central London on Wednesday.

The Times of London reported that Bulhan called an ambulance three times in six months because he wanted to harm himself, citing a close family friend.

Horton, the wife of Florida State University psychology professor Richard Wagner, was killed the day the university's summer study abroad program ended. The couple was expected to return to Florida on Thursday, university officials said.

Scotland Yard did not name the suspect, but said he was a Norwegian national of Somali ancestry. The police force said the attack is believed to have been triggered by mental health issues and there is no evidence that it was terrorism-related.

Bulhan, an IT student who moved to Britain in 2002 at age 5 after his family claimed asylum in Norway, lives with his mother, brother and sister in the Tooting area of south London, the London Evening Standard reported.

Bulhan’s neighbor Parmjit Singh, 36, told the Times of London: “He was a really good lad, never any trouble. He loved playing football. He was very much a family guy, the family were very close. He was not into any gangs or troubles but he didn’t have any money because he was not working.”

Jennifer Ocampo, 31, another neighbor, told the Evening Standard: “He was the quiet type and he wouldn’t make eye contact if he passed you on the stairs.”

The people who were injured in the attack were Australian, American, Israeli and British, police said.

Israeli tourist Yovel Levkowki, 18, said she was stabbed on the hand as she went to help Bulhan, believing he was a victim.

“I don't know whether to call it luck or fate but it's obviously some sort of miracle compared to the woman who was standing next to me,” she wrote in a Facebook post.