A young man viciously decapitated an 82-year-old woman named Palmira Silva in her north London home on Thursday. The man had been tormenting residents in the Edmonton area as he brandished a machete.

The attack happened early Thursday afternoon, according to The Guardian, when a man dressed in all black and brandishing a foot-long machete stormed around an Edmonton neighborhood. The man was running through back gardens when he came into Silva's garden and attacked.

Police declared the 82-year-old widow dead at the scene. They cornered the man in a house, tasered and arrested him. An officer broke his wrist during the struggle. The Metropolitan Police has said it is investigating the motives but believes there is no terrorism link.

According to The Telegraph, police began removing residents from nearby homes as a precaution. Following the man's arrest, the local community expressed its horror and sadness in response to Silva's death.

"Her husband died about five years ago. I think she came from Italy originally. I was speaking to her yesterday. She was weeding in the front garden. She loved her gardening," a neighbor said.

"I think maybe today she was in the back garden. She was such a sweet lady. She was slow getting around, but she still went to work. I think after her husband died that kept her going."

Another resident, Freda Odame, described how the man was running around the back gardens shouting and banging on doors.

"I could see that he had a big curved knife -- about the size of an arm's length -- and he was crouching as if frantically searching for something. He had a crazed look in his eyes so I closed my curtains because I was scared," she said.

The Huffington Post UK reports that the man had previously tried to attack two people before killing Silva and witnesses reported he had attacked and killed a cat. One witness said they found the animal's severed head on the street.

The suspect has been identified as 25-year-old Nicholas Salvadore, an aspiring cage fighter, according to Huffington Post UK. He had recently moved in with friends who live in the neighborhood.

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