British lawmaker shot dead, EU referendum campaigns suspended

Tributes for Labour Party MP Jo Cox, who was shot dead in the street in northern England, are displayed on Parliament Square in London, Britain, June 16, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

"We've lost a wonderful woman, we've lost a wonderful member of parliament, but our democracy will go on," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said in a televised statement. "As we mourn her memory, we'll work in her memory to achieve that better world she spent her life trying to achieve."

Labour lawmaker Sarah Champion said: "She's a tiny woman, five feet nothing and a lion as well - she fights so hard for the things she believes in. I cannot believe anyone would do this to her."

Police said a 77-year-old man was also assaulted in the incident and suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

BBC TV and other media showed a picture of the alleged suspect, a balding white man, being apprehended by police. Temporary Chief Constable Collins said a "very significant investigation with large numbers of witnesses" was under way.

"We are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident," she said.

The last attack on a British legislator was in 2010, when Labour member and ex-cabinet minister Stephen Timms was stabbed in the stomach at his office in east London by a 21-year-old student who was angry over his backing for the 2003 Iraq war.

In 2000, a Liberal Democrat local councillor was murdered by a man with a samurai sword at the offices in western England of lawmaker Nigel Jones, who was also seriously hurt in the attack.