Panicked shoppers dived to the ground after a man was shot dead on a busy London street earlier this after noon.

The Met Police arrested a man in his 20s near the scene of the shooting on suspicion of murder and placed him in custody at an east London police station.

Eyewitnesses saw assailants chasing the victim down Chatsworth Road before they shot him shortly before 1.15pm.

He briefly ran into a butchers for help before collapsing into a railing, where armed police and medical workers found him lying in a pool of his own blood, reports claim.

The man's next of kin has been informed and police will now schedule a post-mortem.

Scene of the crime: The victim, believed to be a young man, was shot dead on Chatsworth Road, Hackney at 1.15pm today

Gunned down: Eyewitnesses saw the assailants chasing the victim down Chatsworth Road (pictured)

Detained: The Met Police arrested a man in his 20s near the scene of the shooting (pictured) on suspicion of murder

It is believed that a gang of three men approached the victim who was shot several times. He died at the scene.

A traumatised witness told the Independent how the victim ran for his life before he was gunned down outside the Regal Pharmacy.

He said the man left behind a trail of blood as he stumbled into the butchers shop.

Another witness told the Mirror how passersby ran for safety in a chemist when the heard gunshots which sounded like 'firecrackers'.

He said: 'There was a man running away outside the shop and then all of a sudden about three other people came running into the shop looking terrified.

'They told us there had been a shooting. I could not believe it as it did not sound like the gunshots you hear in the movies. I then saw one guy with his hood up walking past the shop very quickly'

A shopkeeper who works at nearby beauty salon Belli Fuori said: 'They [locals] think it's gang-related. I'm not from the area but they say there's a lot of it.'

Bloody attack: The victim was declared dead at the scene after he was hit by several bullets at 1.15pm today

Shooting: A witness said the victim ran for his life before he was gunned down outside the Regal Pharmacy (pictured)

She told the Evening Standard: 'I've never been so scared for my life... I was really, really scared.

'We thought it was kids throwing fireworks outside. Then one of my colleagues whose boyfriend deals with guns went: 'Oh my god, that's a gun.'

'We all ran into the back and closed the door. The police came straightaway and said all the shops had closed and the area was cordoned off. I just saw people running.'

Other witnesses have described the terror on Twitter, with Stephen O'Flaherty writing: 'People jumped to the ground and scattered after shots were heard.'

Dominic Tyler wrote on Twitter: 'A young man lost his life metres from my home in Hackney today. He was shot dead in broad daylight. Senseless, tragic and sad.'

The shooting took place in Lower Clapton which earned the nickname, the 'Murder Mile', after a spate of drug and gun-related crimes in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The area will be sealed off for several hours as forensic teams examine the the scene for clues.

The Metropolitan Police said: 'Police were called at 13:14hrs on Saturday, September 26, to reports of shots fired in Chatsworth Road, E5.

'Officers, specialist firearms officers and the London Ambulance Service (LAS) attended the scene and found a man with injuries consistent with being shot.