Man accidentally shot by armed police following vehicle stop

BY JAMES TWOMEY
james@slpmedia.co.uk

An armed police officer accidentally shot a man in the early hours of Saturday after they responded to a report of a woman being held against her will at a pub.

A woman called the police to report another woman allegedly being held at gunpoint in The Anchor pub in Lewisham Road shortly before 4am.

The police say the caller alleged there were a number of men and a firearm was seen.

Officers arrived and stopped a car at the Blackheath Hill and Lewisham Road junction – a short way up the road from the pub – where a police firearm was unintentionally discharged.

A police report said: “During the vehicle stop, a police firearm was unintentionally discharged.

One man – believed to be aged in his 20s – was taken to a South hospital with a gunshot injury.

His condition has been assessed as not life-threatening or life-changing. The man has been arrested, but remains in hospital.”

Officers searched the Anchor pub where five other men were arrested but no female was found.

They were then released under investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector James Stanyer of South East CID said: “Detectives are working hard to fully understand this incident and our enquiries are at an early stage. “It is vital that we hear again from the original caller in this case.

Officers, including armed police, rightly deployed urgently to the area following her phone call, and this has resulted in a number of searches and seven people being arrested.

“Whatever the circumstances of the call, it is important that this female calls police again as soon as possible.”

An IOPC spokeswoman, said: “We have begun an investigation into the non-fatal shooting of a man by police in London on Saturday morning.

“The incident happened at around 3.55am in Lewisham Road at the junction of Blackheath Hill when armed police stopped a vehicle.

“Following a referral from the Metropolitan Police Service, IOPC investigators attended the scene and the police post incident procedure and have begun gathering information.

We understand the firearm discharge was unintentional.”

A witness who works nearby said: “Two unmarked police cars stopped a cab and police officers with bulletproof vests and what looked like machine guns were yelling ‘Get out of the car, armed police, get out of the car’.

“The shot man lay on the pavement and it was really frantic. He was shouting ‘Please, somebody help me’ and then an officer gave him first aid.

“The road was closed off and a bus was stopped there, the passengers would have seen the whole thing as well.”

The police are urging the female who called police at around 3.55am on Saturday from a phone box in Morden Hill, just off Lewisham Road, to make contact again by calling 101 quoting CAD 3359/9Feb.

Detectives also want to hear from anyone who was in the Anchor pub in the early hours of Saturday morning and from anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area at that time.