Police were called and people were evacuated from their homes in an emergency welfare check on a flat occupant which shut a south London street for around 12 hours.
Officers were called to a property on Stanstead Road in Catford just before 11pm on Wednesday. The Metropolitan Police said specialist officers and negotiators attended the scene and engaged with a man, believed to be in his 20s, who claimed to have access to explosives.
The London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade were also in attendance.
The man suffered a number of injuries and has been taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition, the police said.
The road has been cordoned off from Cranston Road to the Blythe Hill Tavern pub, and an inner-cordon was established near to the flat, a local resident told The Independent,
The eye-witness said that residents living within the inner-cordon on Stanstead Road were evacuated from their homes shortly after officers were called to the scene on Wednesday evening.
A resident said: “They just evacuated and they just started every door, every house.”
“Everybody was evacuated. We were all just out on the street.”
Those evacuated have been taken to the nearby Ladywell Centre but have been out of their homes since 11pm, he said.
A police statement said: “A number of neighbouring properties have been evacuated. Officers remain at the scene and a cordon remains in place while enquiries continue.
“The incident is not being treated as terror-related.
“The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards has been notified, and a mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.”
