Police in London said a female suspect was shot and wounded as they foiled an “active terror” plot in a raid on a house in northwest London.

Police entered the house yesterday evening, firing tear gas and shooting the woman, who was in her 20s and is now in a serious but stable condition.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said at a press briefing on Friday that three occupants of the house, in the suburb of Willesden, were arrested on suspicion of plotting a terror attack. Two more people were arrested when they returned to the property later.

A woman was also arrested in a related raid in Kent, Basu added.

“Due to these arrests that have been made yesterday, I believe we have contained the threats that they pose.” Asked if police had foiled an active terror plot, Basu said, “Yes.”

The arrests were not linked to yesterday’s arrest of a man carrying knives near the Houses of Parliament. Police said they had been following him as a suspect when he was arrested.

On March 22 Khalid Masood mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in his hired car, killing four before stabbing an unarmed police officer to death outside the Houses of Parliament. Masood was then shot dead himself.

Neighbours living next to the Willesden house said the family were Somali Muslims. Alex Paton, a nearby resident, told the BBC “I saw coppers (policemen) and masked men with guns, and there was a guy running down the road with a gas mask and a machine gun.

Police said the woman who was shot had been taken to hospital under police guard but had not been arrested for the moment because of her condition.

The terror threat level issued by the security services in England, Wales and Scotland is “Severe,” one level down from the top rating of “Critical”. The current level means a terror attack is highly likely.

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