Dramatic footage captures the moment armed police tasered an out-of-control knifeman who had been threatening to cut the throats of white people.

Terrified witnesses say the man was shouting 'I want to kill someone tonight,' as he made his way through Hackney, east London brandishing the 'nine inch' blade.

Heavily-armed officers rushed to the scene, and according to one witness, were there within four minutes of the initial call, and incapacitated the man shortly after.

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Dramatic footage captures the moment armed police tasered an out-of-control knifeman who had been threatening to cut the throats of white people

Police arrested the 50-year-old man after shooting him with stun guns - footage shows three officers standing over him with their tasers discharged.

The man can be seen lying prone on the ground with the knife still in his right hand.

A local who filmed the harrowing incident described the blood-curdling moment she heard him say he wanted to kill a white person.

He said: 'I'm going to kill any white person who comes down this road, I'm going to kill them, I want to cut someone's throat, I want to kill someone tonight,' she told the Mirror.

The woman, who had been watching TV in bed when she heard a 'horrible shouting noise' before allegedly seeing a the man wielding a knife, making violent stabbing gestures at the air.

He was shouting at the police, urging them to kill him, after police rushed to the scene, the woman said.

Heavily-armed officers rushed to the scene, and according to one witness, were there within four minutes of the initial call, and incapacitated the man shortly after

The man can be seen lying prone on the ground with the knife still in his right hand

She said she called her brother and warned him not to come home at that night because a man with a 'massive' knife was threatening to kill someone.

It was extremely lucky, she added, that the usually busy street was deserted at the time because someone may very well have been seriously injured or killed.

A spokeswoman from the Metropolitan Police Service said: 'Police were called at approximately 11.35pm on Friday, 1 June to reports of a man in possession of knife and acting aggressively in Teale Street, E2.

'Officers attended and Taser was discharged.

'The man - aged in his 50s - was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and taken to an east London police station where he remains in custody.

'A knife was recovered at the scene.'

There are no reports of any injuries and officers from Hackney are investigating.