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A woman has told how she saw a man 'waving an axe' moments before he was shot by police.

Officers shot the man in Francis Street, city centre, after he was reportedly seen carrying a weapon in the street.

The 31-year-old man is said to have been injured and is now receiving medical treatment, Humberside Police said.

One woman said she saw police approach the man as she was driving along Charles Street towards Freetown Way.

"I could see the man coming towards me waving an axe and you could see he had been Tasered by the police because you could see the lines," she said.

"The police were quite a distance from him and they were giving him plenty of time to drop the axe and he was still waving it around.

"He just carried on walking. He went down the street near to the car park in Francis Street and turned down there, with the axe still in the air.

"The police followed him down there and then I heard a shot. Straight away I knew it was a gunshot.

"In my opinion, the police did what was right, it was the last resort.

"He had been Tasered and you could tell they were talking to him and he just didn't stop waving it around. They obviously didn't want anything to happen to the public, they didn't just do it for the sake of it."

The witness said she was concerned when she saw the man walking towards her car.

"I was thinking what if he comes towards me, you don't know what they are going to do," she said.

"I was quite worried because obviously something significant had happened for the police to be following him."

A man near the scene, who did not want to be named, said he believed the injured man was his cousin.

He said his cousin suffers from mental health issues and has problems with drugs.

He said: "All I've heard is one of my friends rang me and said 'Your cousin's been running around with an axe and he's been Tasered and they've shot him'. That's all I know.

"I'm going to go and find out how he is now."

Other bystanders have told the Mail they heard two distinct gun shots at around 9.30am.

Mike Taylor, site manager at Kingston Pavers, is carrying out some work in Freetown Way.

He said: "I heard two loud bangs all of a sudden. I remember thinking they sounded like gunshots. I joked to the other lads by touching my chest as if I had been shot. We didn't think any more of it and we went to Subway around the corner for a break. When we came back there were coppers all over.

"It is scary that this has happened, especially when we were working nearby."

The partner of one of Mr Taylor's colleagues works at Hica, which is within the police cordon.

Speaking from her office, Louise Sleight, 27, said: "There were a lot of rumours circulating. One woman said someone had been shot by police and that, that person had apparently had an axe, although she hadn't seen that. We are allowed to go outside for a cigarette but I don't think we are allowed to move our cars.

"You don't expect something like this, it's a bit scary really."

A workman, who would only give his first name as Chris, said: "I definitely heard two gunshots. People are saying that he was only Tasered but you know the difference between a taser and a gunshot and these were definitely gunshots."

Humberside Police said they were called at 9.20am on Tuesday after "concerns for the safety of the public" were raised in relation to a man seen near the Post Office in Holderness Road, east Hull.

He was shot at 9.37am near the car park in Francis Street, city centre.

Firefighters have put up green, canvas screens around an area within the facility of the Sanctuary Housing offices in Francis Street.

A large police presence remains at the scene, with several nearby streets also cordoned off.

A man who lives in Caroline Street said: "Everywhere you go there's a copper. It must be quite serious. It can't be an accident because they wouldn't shut this many roads."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the shooting.