Man dies as police fire ‘up to 10 shots’ at car
Witnesses describe seeing armed officers open fire after 999 reports of a motorist brandishing a gun
A MAN has died after armed police fired up to “10 shots” at his car when they stopped it at a motorway junction yesterday morning.
After the gunfire left the car riddled with bullets and shattered its windows, officers were seen dashing to the vehicle to haul the man out before attempting to resuscitate him.
The driver was pronounced dead at the roadside of the A369 near Portishead, north Somerset. Photographs from the scene showed a black handgun on top of the car. The shooting has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Police confirmed the incident was “not terrorist related”, but refused to be drawn on the details of the operation.
The incident happened after a series of 999 calls from “concerned members of the public” travelling on the M5 who had reported seeing a motorist brandishing a handgun.
The car, a red Suzuki Swift, was then seen to leave the motorway sometime after 9am at Junction 19, heading towards the A369, known as the Portbury Hundred road. At some point it is believed the vehicle was either “hard stopped” by police or boxed in by traffic before shots were fired.
Describing the moment firearms officers drew their weapons, eyewitness David Ellison said: “As I came out of Portishead to join the motorway I got stopped and, ahead of me, were police in the road.
“I saw them back off from a car and then they surrounded it, and then they shot with handguns five, six, maybe 10 times. They dragged a man from the car to resuscitate him. There was a crash team. It was maybe only 10ft from the motorway. It was boxed in with cars.
“They shot through the passenger window. There were two police with handguns.”
Mr Ellison said only about six officers were at the scene – one of whom was directing traffic away from the area. A Great Western Air Ambulance was also scrambled to the scene.
Mark De Lancey posted on the Facebook page Hello Portishead: “I got up on the roundabout as the police were smashing the guy’s window and dragging him out. God knows what was happening.”
Frazer Phillips from Bristol wrote: “I was right next to it when it happened and heard about 4-5 shots.”
The scene was cordoned off and officers in white forensic suits had erected a blue and white tent opposite a number of vehicles on the side of the road.
Photographs showed the dead man lying under a bloodied blanket in front of a car with bullet holes in it. Only the dead man’s trainer and white sock on one foot were visible. The driver’s rearside window was missing having been apparently shot out. The back of the vehicle had at least three bullet holes in the metal.
The incident caused widespread disruption to road networks across the South West of England.
A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said: “We can confirm a man died earlier this morning in an incident involving police firearms. We received calls from concerned members of the public travelling on the M5 who reported they had seen a man in a car with a handgun.
“The vehicle left the motorway at Junction 19 and officers stopped the car on the A369, known as the Portbury Hundred,” a police spokeswoman said.
“Shots were subsequently fired in an incident involving police firearms, and a man has died.
“We have referred the incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. This has been a fast moving incident and is now under investigation by the IPCC.”