- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
(CNN) - Years before the police shot down Usman Khan after a stabbing in the London Bridge, authorities say he planned to establish a "terrorist military training facility."
Khan, 28, was identified as the suspect in Friday's attack in central London that left two people dead and three others injured, said Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Neil Basu.
He was released from jail in December 2018 with an ankle monitor after pleading guilty to terrorism charges in 2012.
Usman Khan was identified as the suspect of the attack.
This is what we know about the suspect:
He was convicted of terrorist crimes
In 2010, Khan and eight other individuals were arrested in London as part of a major anti-terrorism operation. Some of the men were charged with terrorist charges for an "al Qaeda-inspired plot" to bomb the London Stock Exchange, UK police said at the time.
Khan, originally from Pakistan, admitted other terrorist offenses that involve fundraising and recruitment for a terrorist military training center in the guise of a madrassa - or educational institution - on Kashmir lands that were owned by his family, according to judicial documents of the case.
Authorities said the land of Khan's family already had a mosque and that those involved in the plot sought to direct funds to the group to "establish and operate a terrorist military training center," according to a sentencing document.
Khan and another suspect in the case were accused of planning the training of individuals at the facility with the aim of making them "more serious and effective terrorists," according to the documents.
They were accused of attending operational meetings, raising funds and preparing to travel abroad to "participate in training for acts of terrorism," according to comments in the ruling.
In 2012, Khan pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
At the time of his sentence, Deputy Deputy Commissioner Stuart Osborne, the main national coordinator for anti-terrorism, said the operation was one of the most complex anti-terrorism operations of the time.
"We had a network of highly dangerous men based in three cities that worked together to plan terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom," Osborne said. "If we had not taken steps to interrupt this network, their actions could have resulted in casualties or significant deaths."
During the investigation in 2010, about 1,000 police officers were involved in the operation, which involved monitoring men in Staffordshire, Wales and London, Osborne said. National anti-terrorism forces and security services participated in the operation.
Khan was released from prison in 2018 with an ankle monitor, police said.
Prior to Friday's attack, he resided in the Staffordshire area of England, about 240 kilometers northwest of London, authorities said.
Khan attended an event before the attack
Khan attended an event at Fishmonger's Hall, said Basu, the assistant commissioner.
Basu went on to say "we believe the attack started inside before he left the building and headed for the bridge."
The event was scheduled from 11 am to 4 pm for alumni celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Learning Together Network. The group, a network of academics and criminal justice organizations, is affiliated with the Criminology Institute of the University of Cambridge, according to the event's website.
The University of Cambridge tweeted on Friday: "We are very concerned about reports that the staff, students and alumni of the University of Cambridge were caught in the incident on the London Bridge."
Stephen Toope, the Cambridge vice chancellor, said he was devastated to learn that the staff, students and alumni who attended an event organized by the university's Criminology Institute may have been targeted.
Nina Dos Santos and Sebastian Shukla contributed to this report.
London bridge
