In his statement, Cardinal DiNardo said U.S. Catholics joined in the pope's prayers for the victims and survivors, and he added: "May God grant strength, wisdom and protection to the men and women who safeguard our families and may he convert the hearts of all who follow the path of evil extremism. Our solidarity in Christian hope and commitment to peace is a bond that cannot be broken."

In New York, WABC-TV's "Eyewitness News" reported that a college student from Brooklyn who attends Jesuit-run Boston College was at a pub with some of his classmates in London's Borough Market when terrorists came in with long knives and started attacking people.

The attackers first mowed people down on the London Bridge in a white van, then left the van to go on a killing spree in Borough Market, according to news reports.

As others fled the pub scene or huddled in fear, Mark Kindschuh, 19, of Bay Ridge, stayed to help a man he saw fighting for his life, the TV station reported.

"All I could see was one man at the front on the ground with a pool of blood forming," Kindschuh told WABC-TV. "You couldn't really see it, because there was so much blood around his head, but I searched around with my hands, and it was on the back of his head."

Kindschuh said he took his belt and wrapped it around the victim's head to slow the bleeding, then shouted to the crowd asking if anyone was a doctor. He stayed with the victim and a short while later police entered the bar.

His father, Dr. Mark Kindschuh, who is director of Coney Island Hospital's Emergency Department, told WABC he was proud that his son stayed with the injured man and showed such selflessness amid the panic.