Shouts heard before armoured man with crossbow and sword shot dead by police

Neighbours heard yelling and banging before a man with crossbows, a sword and a hatchet was shot dead by police in Southwark this morning.

The 30-year-old man, named locally as Bryce Hodgson according to the Mirror, had been trying to force his way inside a residential property in the South London borough’s Bywater Place just before 5am.

A report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the man was wearing body armour when officers shot him inside the house.

He was immediately taken outside and given first aid, but died at the scene soon afterwards.

Two residents received minor injuries during the incident, the Metropolitan Police said earlier today.

The IOPC said two shots that had been fired from a police issue gun would be ‘subject to further analysis’.

According to its report, weapons including crossbows, a sword, a hatchet and a knife were found where the man had been trying to force entry.

Police body-worn cameras showed he was ‘threatening to harm residents inside the address’, where he ‘was known to at least one of the occupants’, the report said.

It continued: ‘A detailed search of the scene is continuing this evening and we have conducted house-to-house enquiries in the neighbourhood, which will continue in the coming days.

‘We attended the police post incident procedures where the officers involved provided their initial accounts of the incident.’

Local resident Akbar Beloch, 53, recalled hearing a pounding noise early this morning, which made him think someone was breaking into his car.

The food business owner said: ‘I heard a man and a woman shouting and I was in and out of sleep.

‘I heard a banging. I thought someone was hitting my car. It sounded like someone banging a door. Then a few minutes later we heard police sirens and all that noise.’

He did not remember hearing the gunshot, saying he was ‘in and out of sleep’, but expressed his shock over the incident.

He said: ‘Nothing like this has ever happened around here before. I thought that it was going to be safe here.’

The IOPC’s regional director Mel Palmer said: ‘Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this tragic incident.

‘The man’s next of kin have been informed and, in due course, we will be contacting them to explain our role. We will keep them regularly updated throughout our investigation.

‘Given a man has died after being shot by police, our role is to independently investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident including the actions and decisions taken by the police.’

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