Police taser man as they seize rifle in stop-and-search incident

By Sarah Grealish

A loaded assault rifle has been seized by police after they stopped a car and had to taser one of the occupants.

Two vehicles were stopped and searched in Peckham by officers from the Trident and Area Crime Command and armed response vehicles at 3 pm today, Friday.

A loaded Armi Jaegar AP80.22 automatic assault rifle was found in the boot of one of the cars.

Two males aged 50 and 77 have been arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

During the arrest, the 50-year-old resisted and was tasered by armed officers.

The two men have now been taken into custody at a local police station after the 50-year-old was treated for minor injuries in hospital.

Detective Chief Inspector James Harper of the Trident and Area Crime Command, said: “I have no doubt that removing this weapon from circulation has prevented death or serious injury. Trident officers will continue to work tirelessly to disrupt and detect such criminality.”

Assault rifles were first used during world war II and are now the standard weapon in most of the world’s armies.

Gun crime in London had been in decline until 2014 but has been steadily increasing since.

In 2018 132 people died in London of homicide, 15 of these were shootings.