Police have shot dead a 40-year-old man who was threatening a woman with a knife at a house in London, in the first fatal shooting by police in London since the killing of Mark Duggan in 2011.

Several shots were fired during the standoff at Shepperton Road in Islington at around 1am and the man died 20 minutes later while being taken to hospital, Scotland Yard said.



Police had sent a negotiator to the scene at 11.19pm on Thursday following reports the man had broken into a house.

The man and woman involved were believed to have known each other, according to Commander Neil Basu of the Metropolitan police.

The woman was not harmed but was being treated for shock, he said. Photos taken by neighbours show a middle-aged woman in a pink blanket being comforted by a female police officer as she was led away.

Speaking outside Scotland Yard, Basu said the man was pronounced dead en route to hospital at 1.20am.

He added: “We do believe that the man and woman were known to each other but at this stage we cannot confirm the exact nature of that relationship. But no other people are believed to be involved in last night’s incident and there have been no other injuries.”



The police have not named the man as his family have yet to be told of his death.

Basu said: “At this stage all I can confirm is that he is a 40-year-old black man, who I believe was born in Islington.

He added: “As this is a fatal shooting, the police officers of the Met’s directorate of professional standards were immediately informed. They have attended the scene, they are there now and we have made a mandatory referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).”

Rasu stressed that such incidents were rare but demonstrated the “challenging nature” of the work of firearms officers.

A female neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “I heard lots of shots – three or four. Like a bonfire. I’ve never heard anything like it before. It was really scary.

“There were a lot of police with guns. It was very scary. The people who lived there moved in around a year ago – I thought the man was her son.”

Another witness said she was woken by five shots being fired, according to LBC’s Tom Swarbick reporting from the scene.

Eyewitness tells @LBC she was woken by 5 shots being fired. "Many" armed officers. Woman escorted out of the house by police — Tom Swarbrick (@TomsonSwarb) September 5, 2014

Neighbours said they were escorted to their homes by police on Thursday night as the incident was taking place.

Rosa Whiteread, 28, a primary school teacher who lives in the street, said: “I was asleep and I heard shouting - it woke me up. It must have been around 12.30 at night.

“I looked out of the window and I saw lots of police, there must have been around a dozen of them. I asked them what was going on, but they said they couldn’t tell me ... It’s shocking.”

Police cordoned off Shepperton Road with blue and white tape and police cars, as several uniformed officers stood guard along the street.

Shepperton Road is usually so quiet in the mornings pic.twitter.com/zplxwmYpTB — Piers Karsenbarg (@pierskarsenbarg) September 5, 2014

Lyssa Barber, a neighbour who works in recruitment for a bank in the City, said: “I was woken up to shouts and immediately afterwards to what sounded like four or five bangs. They were gunshots.

“I think I heard five gunshots, but a gunshot in real life doesn’t sound like it does on TV. It sounded like loud bangs on a door. Bang, bang, bang. Then I realised, if it’s somebody banging on the door, why can I hear it?

“We saw the ambulance and police. There were eight police vehicles I could see from my window, and I saw five armed officers.

“The ambulance arrived as I was looking out of my window. Police came out of the house. We could see someone being led away. I’m fairly sure they were wearing pink and had to be supported by officers.”

Neighbours said police cordoned off the street on Thursday night and were stopping some residents from returning to their homes. Shortly afterwards they heard gunshots.

A 36-year-old man who works in advertising, but did not want to be named, said: “I arrived home and saw police, who escorted me to my house. Some other residents weren’t allowed back into their homes.”

Resident Michaela Fox, 38, heard the shots from inside her home some 100 yards away from where the man was shot.



Officers are believed to have burst into the house fearing the woman’s life was in imminent danger.



Fox said she heard five shots. After the first there was a short pause, with the next four being fired in rapid succession: “My neighbour asked if the bangs were fireworks. I said no.”



“After the first bang there was a hold, then a second shot.”



Some local people thought the woman had moved into the area recently and that the man shot dead has either been let in or broken into the house.



At the scene forensic examiners in protective suits continued their work.

IPCC investigators were at the scene to start their independent investigation. Witnesses differ in their recall of the shots fired with accounts varying from three to ten shots.

The incident is the first fatal shooting by police in England since officers killed Anthony Grainger in a stolen car in Cheshire in March 2012. It is the first fatal shooting by police in London since the death of Mark Duggan sparked widespread rioting in August 2011.