Gunman in stand-off with police

May 6 2008

Armed police are in a tense stand-off with a gunman after shots were fired on a busy street.

The man is in a house in Markham Square, Chelsea, west London, and police negotiators had been sent to the scene, a Met spokesman said. Television pictures showed officers at the door of a home in the square.

Officers were called at 4.50pm on Tuesday after reports of gunshots. They were shot at and returned fire. So far there are no reported injuries and no-one has been arrested.

One eyewitness said there was an argument between a man and a woman before the shooting started. Sky News reported a distressed woman was heard claiming the gunman is her ex-boyfriend who is licensed to own four different types of guns.

Another said her house had been shot at by a man in his late 20s with dark hair who was brandishing a shotgun. He fired into one of her second-floor bedrooms, sending shot spraying over pictures in the room and breaking the window, she said.

Tyrone Bennet, 19, who works at French Connection in King's Road said he heard about five gunshots.

He and colleague Michael Henry, 25, described seeing police armed with guns lying at the entrance to Markham Square peering through the bushes. They suggested that the gunman may have tried to escape down this road before discovering it was a dead end.

A string of shops in the surrounding area were forced to close, with staff and customers trapped inside as the drama unfolded.

A resident living in Markham Square, who did not want to be named, said: "I looked out of the window and saw police running around with seriously big guns and I realised something serious was going on. I started hearing gunshots and I realised it wasn't safe."

Two ambulances and fire engines were sent to the scene, as was an armoured truck.