Man shot in north London as six other men arrested in operation to stop alleged attempts to help prisoner escape

Police shot a man dead as they acted to disrupt a suspected plot to break out a key player in an organised crime syndicate from a prison van which was taking him to court for sentencing over firearms offences.

A 28-year-man was killed on Friday morning by an undercover Scotland Yard firearms officer who fired a single shot on a quiet residential street in Wood Green, north London, as people went to work.



Detectives tackling organised crime were lying in wait after suspecting a group of men were planning to spring Izzet Eren from a van taking him to Wood Green crown court for sentencing from Wormwood Scrubs prison.

Eren was arrested in October while travelling through north London riding a motorbike. He and another man were found with a Skorpion machine pistol and a Tokarev 9mm pistol, both of which were loaded.



Hours after the police shooting, Eren and his accomplice appeared in court and were both sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment, having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, the police watchdog, is investigating the shooting of the suspect. It said a gun had been found at the scene and it did not belong to the police, a strong indication that the suspect is believed by investigators to have had a weapon.

The man was shot on a street after a “pre-planned operation” by elite Metropolitan police organised crime unit officers who descended on the suspects just before 9am on Friday, supported by firearms officers..

The Met said it arrested a total of six people on suspicion of conspiracy to facilitate the escape of an individual from lawful custody. Two were arrested at the scene of shooting, two just round the corner and two other men were arrested hours later.

In a statement, the IPCC said: “A firearms officer has reported that he discharged his firearm and analysis of the officer’s ammunition confirms that a single shot was fired. What appears to be a non police issue firearm was found at the scene and will be subject to ballistic and forensic tests.”

Witnesses described hearing shouting before gunfire rang out.



The officers were seen giving the suspect heart massage and administering oxygen seconds after shooting him. Paramedics from London’s air ambulance arrived soon after, but were unable to save his life.



The shooting happened in Haringey, the borough where Mark Duggan was shot in 2011, triggering riots. Community sources said on Friday night they were not expecting a repeat of such events.





Residents and passersby said they later saw two more men being taken away by police.

Scotland Yard said a 30-year-old and a 19-year-old were held by armed police in the Bracknell Close area, while a 31-year-old and a 25-year-old were detained in nearby Barratt Avenue. They are being questioned at separate police stations.

The Met said that a 29-year-old man and a 32-year-old man were arrested on Friday afternoon on suspicion of conspiracy to facilitate the escape of an individual from lawful custody. They have both been bailed to a later date in connection with the investigation.

The Ministry of Justice refused to confirm details of the incident. “Following discussions with the police, there is an increased security presence at Wood Green crown court today,” an MoJ spokesman said. “The court continues to operate as normal. We cannot comment on this incident as it is now subject to a police investigation.”

It is understood police feared there would be an attempt to intercept a van ferrying at least one suspect from jail to court. The intelligence led police to mount an undercover operation and have armed officers present. Following the incident, the Met posted a tweet saying the operation was not related to terrorism.

Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) We can confirm the police operation in #WoodGreen is not related to terrorism

The incident has led to two investigations; the Metropolitan police will investigate the men it has arrested over the alleged plot; and the IPCC will investigate the shooting by police.

IPCC commissioner Cindy Butts said: “I give my assurances that a thorough, independent investigation into the circumstances is under way. My thoughts are with all of those affected by today’s events.”

The IPCC said: “The police officers involved in the operation were specialist firearms officers who are not issued with body worn video cameras. A number of members of the public who witnessed the shooting have been identified and IPCC investigators are in the process of taking their statements.”

The IPCC said that police officers had been providing their initial accounts of the incident. At this stage, they will be very short accounts, with fuller ones to be made in around 48 hours’ time.

At the scene in Bracknell Close, residents stood outside the police cordon for most of the day watching uniformed and plainclothes officers coming and going as forensic investigators in overalls carried out their work.

Donald Campbell and his crew of road resurfacers were working on Bracknell Close when armed police arrived in unmarked police cars. “Four, and then five, and then six. The police were up on the balcony [of flats overlooking the scene] as well. Obviously they came out of a house,” he said.

“I have to look in my wing mirror and then I just saw the flash. Then I saw the police just tipping him over. He was in a black Audi. If I could make a guess, I would say he was Turkish.”

Taurus Baby (@KepceKazan_Lndn) Something is happening in wood green again. Police everywhere and medical helicopter. pic.twitter.com/SbFygw1Jb5

gillian pearce (@gillpea) This, plus 2 hovering police helicopters in Wood Green. What's going on? pic.twitter.com/O8fh8jFHqM

Another road worker, Nick Lindsay, said he had heard a car window smash. “The next minute a gunshot went off and the police were just shouting at us to get down,” he said. “We were dragged off to the end of the road, told to stay away. They’d obviously been watching the car.”

A man working nearby, who asked not to be named, said he was round the corner from the scene when police opened fire, just before 9am. He heard one shot seconds before he descended steps leading down to Bracknell Close, finding himself yards away from where the man lay dying on the ground. Police were already administering oxygen in an effort to keep the man alive, said the witness, who told the Guardian he lived locally.

“I was thinking, ‘What did he get shot for?’, because the situation just seemed eerie. I said: ‘So what, did he have a gun?’ And the policeman said yes and nodded his head. I looked around, I didn’t look all the way around, but I didn’t see any gun,” he said.

The witness said the officers he saw were in plain clothes but wore masks that covered their faces all the way up to their eyes. “I think these were a different unit altogether, they weren’t Trident,” he said. “I know what Trident looks like.” Trident is a Met unit tackling gang violence in the capital.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The scene of the shooting in Wood Green, north London

A woman whose flat overlooks the scene, and who preferred not to give her name, said she heard shouting just before a single gunshot. She said there were about eight plainclothes officers on the scene initially, who were quickly joined by uniformed colleagues.

“They were just all huddled around him, about maybe seven, eight or more officers, and I didn’t know what was going on at first. I didn’t realise someone was on the ground. Then I could see one of them moving up and down, obviously he was trying to give him chest compressions.”

The law requires that shootings are investigated by the IPCC. For a police shooting to be lawful, officers have to show that they opened fire to protect their own lives or those of others.