Man shot by police in Lewisham
19 February 2012
At around 0540 hrs on Sunday 19 February, police were called to reports by members of the public of a man attempting to break in to a car in Elsinore Road, SE23.
Local officers attended and attempted to approach the man who then threatened them with a large bladed weapon.
The officers retreated and called for further units to assist including firearms officers.
The man then approached officers on Stanstead Road threatening them with the weapon.
Firearms officers attended the scene, and both taser and firearms were used, which resulted in the man receiving gun shot wounds.
London Ambulance Service attended and took the man to hospital. He is critical but stable.
The circumstances will now be subject of an investigation. No further details at present but we can confirm a number of knives have been recovered from the scene.
Roads are closed in the area due to the incident.
The DPS has been informed. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been informed and this is now being treated as an independent investigation by them, as is standard practice for police shootings.
The MPS is meeting with community members to ensure that they are aware of the facts of this incident.
Every year the MPS deploys armed officers to over 3000 incidents and plans over 700 armed operations in order to protect the public from dangerous offenders.
In that context, shots are fired very rarely by officers when they see no alternative and only in one or two of those operations each year. It is essential that each of these occasions is subject to independent investigation and public scrutiny.