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Police shoot man dead in raid tied to alleged prison escape plot Police shoot man dead in raid tied to alleged prison escape plot
(about 3 hours later)
Police say they have shot a man dead and arrested four others in a London-wide operation to foil alleged attempts to help a prisoner escape custody. Armed police have shot a man dead on a residential street and arrested six others as they swooped to foil an alleged plot to help a prisoner escape from custody.
The man was shot on a street in Wood Green, north London following a “pre-planned operation” by elite Scotland Yard units whose officers swooped on suspects at about 9am on Friday morning. The man was shot on a street in Wood Green, north London, after a “pre-planned operation” by elite Metropolitan police units whose plainclothes officers descended on suspects just before 9am on Friday morning.
The scene of the shooting was yards from Wood Green crown court and witnesses said they took cover cover after mayhem erupted. Witnesses described hearing shouting before gunfire rang out.
Paramedics and London’s air ambulance attended the scene and tried to save the man’s life, but he died shortly afterwards from a gunshot wound. The officers were seen giving the suspect heart massage and administering oxygen seconds after shooting him. Paramedics from London’s air ambulance arrived soon after, but were unable to save his life.
Armed officers supporting colleagues from Scotland Yard’s organised crime unit carried out the raid. Residents and passersby said they later saw two more men being taken away by police.
A police tent was erected in the road after the shooting, and witnesses said they saw a man being treated in the street.The Metropolitan police posted a tweet saying the operation was not related to terrorism. Scotland Yard said a 30-year-old and a 19-year-old were held by armed police in the Bracknell Close area, while a 31-year-old and a 25-year-old were detained in nearby Barratt Avenue. They are being questioned at separate police stations.
In a statement, the Met said: “Two of the men were arrested in the area of Bracknell Close, N22. They have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to facilitate the escape of an individual from lawful custody. There were two further related arrests. The Met also said that a 29-year-old man and a 32-year-old man were arrested on Friday afternoon on suspicion of conspiracy to facilitate the escape of an individual from lawful custody. They have both been bailed to a later date in connection with the investigation.
“The four men arrested are at separate London police stations, and we are not prepared to provide any further information as to where. During the operation in Bracknell Close a man was shot and has subsequently died. The Ministry of Justice refused to confirm reports that the incident was connected to the sentencing of two men, Erwin Amoyaw-Gyamfi and Erun Izzet, who were due in court for carjacking and firearms offences at 10am. The pair were each jailed for 14 years on Friday.
“The circumstances of that shooting are now under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and as such it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage.”
We can confirm the police operation in #WoodGreen is not related to terrorism
The Met said the operation involved its organised crime command and specialist firearms operational command unit.
The Ministry of Justice refused to confirm reports that the incident was connected to the sentencing of two men, Erwin Amoyaw-Gyamfi and Erun Izzet, who were due in court on carjacking and firearms offences at 10am on Friday.
“Following discussions with the police, there is an increased security presence at Wood Green crown court today,” an MoJ spokesman said. “The court continues to operate as normal. We cannot comment on this incident as it is now subject to a police investigation.”“Following discussions with the police, there is an increased security presence at Wood Green crown court today,” an MoJ spokesman said. “The court continues to operate as normal. We cannot comment on this incident as it is now subject to a police investigation.”
One Twitter user said the shooting happened on Winkfield Road and posted a picture showing police on the street, but Scotland Yard would not confirm the report. It is understood police feared there would be an attempt to intercept a van ferrying at least one suspect from jail to court. The intelligence led police to mount an undercover operation and have armed officers present. Following the incident, the Met posted a tweet saying the operation was not related to terrorism.
A second picture posted by the same user showed the air ambulance had landed in White Hart Lane recreation ground. We can confirm the police operation in #WoodGreen is not related to terrorism
The incident has led to two investigations; the Independent Police Complaints Commission will investigate the shooting by police and the Metropolitan police will investigate the men it has arrested over the alleged plot.
At the scene in Bracknell Close, residents stood outside the police cordon for most of the day watching uniformed and plainclothes officers coming and going as forensic investigators in overalls carried out their work.
Donald Campbell and his crew of road resurfacers were working on Bracknell Close when armed police arrived in unmarked police cars. “Four, and then five, and then six. The police were up on the balcony [of flats overlooking the scene] as well. Obviously they came out of a house,” he said.
“I have to look in my wing mirror and then I just saw the flash. Then I saw the police just tipping him over. He was in a black Audi. If I could make a guess, I would say he was Turkish.”
Something is happening in wood green again. Police everywhere and medical helicopter. pic.twitter.com/SbFygw1Jb5Something is happening in wood green again. Police everywhere and medical helicopter. pic.twitter.com/SbFygw1Jb5
This, plus 2 hovering police helicopters in Wood Green. What's going on? pic.twitter.com/O8fh8jFHqMThis, plus 2 hovering police helicopters in Wood Green. What's going on? pic.twitter.com/O8fh8jFHqM
At the scene in Bracknell Close, residents stood near a police cordon watching uniformed and plainclothes officers. Another road worker, Nick Lindsay, said he had heard a car window smash. “The next minute a gunshot went off and the police were just shouting at us to get down,” he said. “We were dragged off to the end of the road, told to stay away. They’d obviously been watching the car.”
Donald Campbell and his crew of road resurfacers were working yards away when armed police swooped. “I just saw the flash,” Campbell said. “I thought it was two blokes having a fight. I was sitting in my lorry, tipping it out.” A man working nearby, who asked not to be named, said he was round the corner from the scene when police opened fire, just before 9am. He heard one shot seconds before he descended steps leading down to Bracknell Close, finding himself yards away from where the man lay dying on the ground. Police were already administering oxygen in an effort to keep the man alive, said the witness, who told the Guardian he lived locally.
Campbell said he saw the incident through his rear-view mirror, as a series of unmarked police cars sped past him down the road. “Four, and then five, and then six. The police were up on the balcony [of flats overlooking the scene] as well. Obviously they came out of a house,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘What did he get shot for?’, because the situation just seemed eerie. I said: ‘So what, did he have a gun?’ And the policeman said yes and nodded his head. I looked around, I didn’t look all the way around, but I didn’t see any gun,” he said.
“I have to look in my wing mirror and then I just saw the flash. Then I saw the police just tipping him over. He was in a black Audi. If I could make a guess, I would say he was Turkish.” The witness said the officers he saw were in plain clothes but wore masks that covered their faces all the way up to their eyes. “I think these were a different unit altogether, they weren’t Trident,” he said. “I know what Trident looks like.” Trident is a Met unit tackling gang violence in the capital.
Campbell, a worker with Ringway but wearing the livery of the London Highways Alliance, said he and his crew had worked on the road four or five times before, “and we have had altercations with people down there every time”, he added. A woman whose flat overlooks the scene, and who preferred not to give her name, said she heard shouting just before a single gunshot. She said there were about eight plainclothes officers on the scene initially, who were quickly joined by uniformed colleagues.
“They think they own the road. I would surmise why the police were so quick there; something was going to happen. He [the victim] was sitting there to do something, I think anyway. That’s just my opinion because I know the people that live down there.” “They were just all huddled around him, about maybe seven, eight or more officers, and I didn’t know what was going on at first. I didn’t realise someone was on the ground. Then I could see one of them moving up and down, obviously he was trying to give him chest compressions.”
Another road worker, Nick Lindsay, said he had heard a car window smash. “The next minute a gunshot went off and the police were just shouting at us to get down,” he said. “And then out pops someone’s head from one of the flats, and we were dragged off to the end of the road, told to stay away. They’d obviously been watching the car.” The law requires that shootings are investigated by theIPCC, whose investigators attended the scene in Haringey following the incident. For a police shooting to be lawful, officers have to show that they opened fire to protect their own lives or those of others. IPCC representatives will attend a post-incident debrief in which the officers involved will give an account of what happened during the shooting.
Lindsay said just one man was in the car, which had its lights on. “We were told it was not terrorists and probably gang-related,” he said.
Angie Buzzacott, a local tenants’ representative, said she was shocked by the incident. “We have had, over the years, problems with gangs,” she said, “normally the fact that they come through here heading towards different estates. We have had similar incidents, a drive-by, but it’s not something that we call a regular thing.”
Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the shooting continue, and the police’s directorate of professional standards was informed.
The law requires that shootings are investigated by the IPCC. Its investigators went to the scene in Haringey and will be looking for any sign of weapons in the vicinity of the shooting. For a police shooting to be lawful, officers have to show that they opened fire to protect their own lives or those of others.