Paramedics tried without success to save him. “David was a man who believed passionately in this country and in its future, and we’ve lost today a fine public servant and a much-loved friend and colleague,” Johnson said.Īmess, 69, was attacked around midday at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, a town about 40 miles (62 kilometers) east of London. “Not all politicians, I would say, are good at that.”Ĭonservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he and his Cabinet were “deeply shocked and heart-stricken.” Jeffrey Woolnaugh said at the vigil, attended by about 80 people. “He carried that great East London spirit of having no fear and being able to talk to people and the level they’re at,” the Rev. Residents paid tribute to him at a vigil at a church in Leigh-on-Sea. Tributes poured in for Amess from across the political spectrum, as well as from the community he had served for decades. British politicians generally are not given police protection when they meet with their constituents. The slaying came five years after another MP, Jo Cox, was murdered by a far-right extremist in her small-town constituency, and it renewed concern about the risks politicians run as they go about their work representing voters. “It will be for investigators to determine whether or not this is a terrorist incident.” “The investigation is in its very early stages,” Essex Police Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington said. They did not identify the suspect, who was held on suspicion of murder. Police said that counterterrorism officers were leading the investigation into the slaying of Conservative lawmaker David Amess but that they had not yet determined whether it was a terrorist attack. A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene. LEIGH-ON-SEA, England (AP) - A long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death Friday during a meeting with constituents at a church in England, an attack that united Britain’s fractious politicians in shock and sorrow.