‘Man in car shot ten times by police’
Fatal shooting ‘was not terror-related’
FATALITY: Investigators have been at the scene where a man died after being shot up to 10 times by armed police close to a busy motorway.
Police confirmed the fatality during an “incident involving police firearms” on the A369 The Portbury Hundred road, close to the M5 Gordano services, near Bristol.
INVESTIGATORS HAVE been at the scene where a man died after being shot up to 10 times by armed police close to a busy motorway.
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed the fatality during an “incident involving police firearms” on the A369 The Portbury Hundred road, close to the M5 Gordano services, near Bristol.
An eyewitness described seeing police shoot into a red Suzuki Swift car that had been stopped by officers. There were at least four bullet holes in the off-side of the hatchback car, and what appeared to be a black handgun on the roof.
David Ellison told BBC Radio Bristol: “As I came out of Portishead to join the motorway, I got stopped. Ahead of me were police in the road.
“I saw them back off from a car and then they surrounded it. They maybe shot with handguns five, six, maybe 10 times.
“Then they dragged a man from the car to resuscitate him.”
Frazer Phillips from Bristol wrote on the Hello Portishead Facebook page: “I was right next to it when it happened and heard about 4-5 shots.”
On the same page, Mark De Lancey added: “I got up on the roundabout as the police were smashing the guys windows and dragging him out. God knows what was happening!”
The scene was cordoned off and officers in white forensic suits erected a blue and white tent opposite a number of vehicles on the side of the road.
A body, covered by a blanket, lay in the road at the back of the near-side of the small hatchback car.
The driver’s side front window was smashed, and there was blood and glass on the floor, as well as a sun hat.
The Avon and Somerset force has referred the shooting to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, but confirmed it was not terror-related.
A force spokesman would not comment on whether the operation was pre-planned.
He said: “This has been a fast moving incident and is now under investigation by the IPCC.”
An Independent Police Complaints Commission spokeswoman said: “We are investigating an incident involving police firearms this morning on the A369 near Portishead in which a man has died.
“IPCC investigators are at the scene gathering evidence and are attending the post incident procedures. Our investigation is in its very early stages.”
The number of fatal police shootings in England and Wales reached the highest level for more than a decade in 2016/2017.
Lewis Skelton, 31, from Hull, died after being shot twice by police in Francis Street, last November 29, following calls from members of the public of a man carrying an axe. A month later Yassar Yaqub, from Huddersfield was shot in a pre-planned police operation near junction 24 of the M62 on January 2. A firearm was found in the front passenger footwell of the vehicle.
This has been a fast-moving incident which is now under investigation. A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police.