Choose: Giving in dying will give life
A member of the British parliament has died after being attacked in northern England, media reports have said.
Local media reported on Thursday that Labour party member Jo Cox, 41, had been shot at her advice surgery in Birstall, near the city of Leeds.
The BBC reported that her husband Brendan Cox said she would want people “to unite to fight against the hatred that killed her”.
David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn were among the politicians paying tribute.
Both official EU referendum campaigns have suspended their operations as a mark of respect following the fatal attack on MP Jo Cox, the BBC reported.
Cox is the first sitting MP to be killed since 1990, when Ian Gow was the last in a string of politicians to die at the hands of Northern Irish terror groups.
Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips, reporting from London shortly after the attack, spoke to eyewitnesses.
“She was taken by air ambulance from Birstall library near the city of Leeds. Eyewitnesses say she was shot and stabbed and taken by air ambulance to Leeds infirmary,” he said.
Labour leader Corbyn, according to the BBC, said the country would be “in shock at the horrific murder”, describing the MP as a “much loved colleague”.
He added: “Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve.
“In the coming days, there will be questions to answer about how and why she died.
“But for now all our thoughts are with Jo’s husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for.”
A mother of two, Cox has been an MP since 2015 and chairs the all-party parliamentary committee on Syria, Phillips added.
West Yorkshire Police said a 52-year-old man had been arrested by armed police and that a woman in her 40s had suffered serious injuries.
Northern-born Cox, was a Cambridge University graduate and aid worker before becoming Labour lawmaker for Batley and Spen in 2015. Known for her work on women’s issues, Cox has worked with several charities. – additional reporting by Al Jazeera