In England, a man with a knife attacked passers-by: an American died

A native of northeast Philadelphia was among three people who were stabbed to death in the evening on Saturday, June 23, during an attack on a park in southern England, which is being investigated as a “terrorist incident," writes Inquirer.

Photo: Shutterstock

39-year-old Joe Ritchie-Bennett grew up in Mayfair, but moved to England about 15 years ago, his father Robert Richie said.

According to his father, Joe worked for several years in a law firm in London, and 10 years ago he got a job at a Dutch pharmaceutical company with British headquarters in Reading, where a terrible attack occurred.

Ritchie-Bennett's brother is 7th District Police Capt. Robert Ritchie, a 24-year veteran.

"I love him. Always loved. And I will always love you,” said Captain Ritchie in the evening of the day following the terrorist attack. - He was a great guy. He was four years younger than me. He helped me every day. And as children we played and rode bicycles every day. Our family is heartbroken, he did not deserve to be treated like this."

The Ritchie family is a police family. Robert Ritchie, the father of both brothers, is a retired chief inspector. Their mother is a retired police officer, as is Robert Ritchie Jr.'s wife. Ritchie-Bennett's grandfather served in the Navy and fought in World War II and the Korean War and was killed in October 1958, days before he was due to be honorably discharged. He was 38 years old.

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Robert Ritchie described his son, Ritchie-Bennett, as an “absolutely incredible guy.”

“I absolutely love my son with all my heart and all my soul,” he said.

Richie said family members and neighbors came to his house in Mayfair, where he lives with his wife Charlene, on the evening of Sunday, June 21.

“We're grieving and trying to decide what we're going to do,” he said. - It's 3500 miles. They're still in coronavirus quarantine and I don't know what else to say."

“It feels unreal,” said Danielle Gayda, 39, Ritchie-Bennett’s best friend since they met in fourth grade at St. Dominic School in the Holmesburg section. “It’s just devastating.”

Even after Richie-Bennett moved to London and Hyde to South Jersey, friends never lost touch, chatting almost every day.

Their last conversation was in SMS messages on the evening before the tragedy. Richie Bennett told Hyde about his plans for an annual summer trip to Greece.

“He would send pictures of the clothes he was going to wear,” she said with a laugh. “He was such a funny, carefree person.”

Ritchie Bennett married Ayan Bennett in England on November 11, 2006, and they combined their surnames. Bennet died on December 6, 2014 after a short battle with colon cancer. He was 32 years old.

"And now they're together, which isn't good for any of us here," Gayda said. “But I think I’m happy for them that they’re back together.”

The knife attack occurred on June 20 at around 19:00 p.m. at Reading Forbury Gardens, a public park about 40 miles west of London.

The names of the other two killed are not called. Another 3 people were seriously injured. A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene of a suspicion of murder and remained in custody on June 21.

According to a statement by the British Counter-Terrorism Police, the officers did not find anything that would indicate other people's involvement.

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One eyewitness, Lawrence Worth, told the BBC that groups of people enjoyed a walk in the park when a man suddenly started shouting strange words. Holding a “massive” knife, which, according to him, was at least 5 inches long, he darted in a circle of 8-10 people, stabbing him in the neck and other parts of the body. The attacker went to another group, where Worth was sitting, but he quickly ran away.

"He stabbed my brother in the neck and armpits, so it was fatal," said Ritchie-Bennett's brother, a police captain.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “shocked and shocked” by this incident, and thanked the local police for the bold “interception” of the suspect.

The Richie family does not have enough information about why the attacker made the attack or when they could pick up the body of Ritchie Bennett for burial.

“No terrorist attack will ever take away my brother, his memory or the American spirit,” Ritchie said. “No one can take that away.”

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