Liverpool bomber appears to have acted alone, police say

Police announced Wednesday that the suspect in the Liverpool car bombing appeared to have acted alone.

British police say suspect Emad Al Swealmeen was allegedly collecting parts for a bomb for the past six months leading up to the explosion in a taxi on Sunday that killed Swealmeen and injured the taxi driver, The Associated Press reported.

The explosion has been labeled a “terrorism incident,” and police have said the intended target is still unclear. The United Kingdom raised its threat level to “severe” after the bombing. 

The explosion happened near a drop-off area at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. A Remembrance Day service honoring those lost at war was held not too far from the area. 

Police say there are currently no other people “of concern” in the investigation and that “relevant purchases” for a bomb had been made in the six months leading up to the incident.

The 32-year-old suspect, who a relative said was born in Iraq, is believed to have had mental health issues, according to the AP. He was rejected for asylum in Britain in 2014, and it is not clear if he was in the country legally at the time of the bombing.

Clergy at two churches said it seemed as though Swealmeen had become a “committed Christian” after converting from Islam.

“He used to love baking and he did a baking course. He also did pizza-making,” Joy Gambardella, a lay reader at Liverpool’s Emmanuel Church, told the AP. “I would never, ever expect he could have done something like that, ever.”