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ISIS stadium threat puts UEFA Champions League soccer teams on alert for quarterfinals
London — Anonymous online supporters of the Islamic terror group ISIS have issued a threat to soccer stadiums across Europe ahead of major games in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League — European soccer’s biggest club competition.
A post disseminated this week by the pro-ISIS online media outlet Al Azaim Foundation showed graphic imagery of a gunman in a balaclava, with the message, “Kill them all,” in large text. The post lists London’s Emirates Stadium, Paris’s Parc de Prince (sic), and Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu as targets.
All three stadiums are set to host major Champions League games, with tens of thousands of fans in attendance.
There were no related threats conveyed via any of the official social media accounts run by or known to be linked to ISIS.
Frank Augstein/AP
UEFA, the body that runs the Champions League competition, said in a statement sent to CBS News on Tuesday that it was “aware of alleged terrorist threats made towards this week’s UEFA Champions League matches and is closely liaising with the authorities at the respective venues.”
“All matches are planned to go ahead as scheduled with appropriate security arrangements in place,” the statement said.
Richard Barnes, a counterterrorism adviser who leads stadium security for London’s Metropolitan Police, confirmed that the force was looking into the online threats ahead of the Champions League game between Arsenal and Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.
He told CBS News, however, that the online threats were “not a new tactic used by various terrorist groups to cause or raise alarm.”
Barnes said the London police counterterrorism unit was “investigating this and they will also be engaging with internal and external partners and stakeholders to ensure this evening’s fixture at Emirates Stadium is not affected.”
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said security would be “considerably reinforced” around Wednesday’s Champions League game between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, in the French capital, in response to the threat, according to the AFP news agency.
The threats and heightened security measures come just weeks after the bloody attack on the Russian capital’s Crocus City Hall, which saw gunmen storm the concert venue before setting it on fire.
A previously unheard-of ISIS Russia branch claimed responsibility for the attack, which left almost 200 people dead.
It also comes just days after an 18-year-old man from Idaho was arrested and accused of plotting to kill churchgoers in his town in the name of ISIS, according to court documents unsealed earlier this week.
ISIS has a history of bloody attacks on European soil, including the devastating, well-orchestrated assault on multiple locations around Paris in 2015. France’s national soccer stadium, just north of Paris, was the only location outside the capital city that was attacked by the ISIS militants during that siege. It is not the same venue that was mentioned in the post on the pro-ISIS website this week.
CBS News’ Khaled Wassef contributed to this report.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.