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Oxford Circus: Police 'responding to incident as if terror related' amid reports of shots fired in central London Oxford Circus incident latest: Reports of gunshots spark mass panic but police still unable to find evidence of attack
(35 minutes later)
The Metropolitan Police says officers were called to "a number of reports of shots fired" in an incident at Oxford Circus in central London, and the force has "responded as if the incident is terrorist related". Armed police have evacuated part of central London amid unconfirmed reports of gunshots in Oxford Street and Oxford Circus Tube station.
Police urged people in the area to get off the streets and take cover in shops, but added that no casualties had yet been found. Police say they had responded "as if the incident is terrorist related" but have not yet located any casualties or evidence of shots, with searches continuing.
More follows… "To date police have not located any trace of any suspects, evidence of shots fired or causalities," a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said.
  "Armed and unarmed officers are on scene and dealing along with colleagues from British Transport Police (BTP).
"If you are in building stay in a building, if you are on the street in Oxford Street leave the area."
BTP also said its officers had been unable to find unable find any evidence of gunfire, adding that investigations continued.
Ryan Butcher, an Independent reporter who was inside the station at the time, said passengers were told to evacuate the station in a tannoy announcement saying there had been a “reported emergency”.
He had reached street level when panic broke out and people started running.
"I just heard screams, someone shouted 'run," he added. "I saw smoke...people started falling over in the streets.
"I saw everyone running into buildings so I went into the nearest one."
Mr Butcher was sheltering in a nearby restaurant, where he said other people were "shaking and crying", adding: "It's just terrifying."
He has since been allowed to leave by police officers, who are directing members of the public away from the area.
Police were first called at 4.38pm, with the incident coming as shoppers flocked to central London on Black Friday.
“At this stage, we have received one report of a woman sustaining a minor injury when leaving Oxford Circus station,” a spokesperson for BTP said. “There are no other reported casualties."
The London Fire Brigade said it had sent three fire engines and 15 firefighters to the scene.
Both Oxford Circus and Bond Street station were closed during the alert but have since been reopened.
The incident came two months after a bomb partially exploded on a Tube train at Parsons Green station in a suspected Isis-linked terror attack. An 18-year-old Iraqi refugee, Ahmed Hassan, has been charged with attempted murder and explosives offences.
Oxford Circus was previously evacuated in August after a small fire caused by an electrical fault on a Bakerloo Line train.
Two people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation in the incident, which was under investigation.
There were additional fears of a terror attack in South Kensington, where a car hit pedestrians near the Natural History Museum last month, but police confirmed the collision was an accident.