• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Police Shoot Man at London Subway Station

Posted on: Friday, 22 July 2005, 06:00 CDT

LONDON -- Police in London shot a man wearing a thick coat at a subway station and cordoned off a mosque on Friday, a day after the city was hit by a second wave of terror attacks in two weeks.

Police had no immediate details on the situation at the mosque in east London. But a Muslim leader said it was evacuated following a bomb threat.

The circumstances of the shooting at Stockwell station were not immediately clear, nor was the man's condition. One witness said he was dead.

British Transport Police said the Northern and Victoria Tube lines, which pass through Stockwell, were suspended because of shooting.

Passengers said they saw police pursuing a man who appeared to be of Pakistani or Indian descent. Some said police shot him when he tripped.

But one witness told the British Broadcasting Corp. that police "pushed him onto the floor and unloaded five shots into him."

"He looked like a cornered fox. He looked pertrified," Mark Whitby said, adding that the man appeared to be dead.

Whitby said the man did not appear to be carrying anything but was wearing a thick coat that looked padded.

Another witness said there were at least 20 police officers involved in the chase.

"The next thing I saw was this guy jump over the barriers and the police officers were chasing after him and everyone was just shouting, 'Get out, Get out!'" said Chris Wells, 28.

Subway passenger Briony Coetsee said she heard gunshots shortly after the shouts to get out.

Alistair Drummond, of the London Ambulance Service, said paramedics had been called to the station at 10:10 a.m.

Mohammed Abdul Bari, chairman of the East London Mosque, said the mosque had received a bomb threat by telephone Friday morning.

The bomb squad came and were searching the premises. More than 6,000 people were expected for Friday afternoon prayers but there were only about a dozen people inside at the time of the threat.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

More News in this Category