A man has died in a "police shooting" on the A369 in Portishead, near Bristol.

Witnesses described seeing a car being stopped by police at 9.30am and officers shoot into the vehicle a number of times.

Avon and Somerset Police confirmed a man died after what it described as an "incident involving police firearms".

Pictures from the scene showed a red Suzuki Swift with what appeared to be bullet holes in the back window and a black handgun on the roof.

Eyewitness David Ellison said he saw police "back off from a car and then they surrounded it".


"They maybe shot with handguns five, six, maybe 10 times," he told BBC Radio Bristol. "Then they dragged a man from the car to resuscitate him."

Image: The shooting is under investigation by the IPCC

Frazer Phillips, from Bristol, wrote on the Hello Portishead Facebook page: "I was right next to it when it happened and heard about 4-5 shots."

On the same page, Mark De Lancey added: "I got up on the roundabout as the police were smashing the guys windows and dragging him out."

An air ambulance was dispatched to the scene and the Independent Police Complaints Commission said it had been notified of an "incident".

A spokesperson said: "IPCC investigators are at the scene gathering evidence and are attending the post-incident procedures.

"Our investigation is in its very early stages."

Earlier, an Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said the road would remain closed "for some time".