A gun has been recovered from the scene in west London where a man was shot dead by police after two suspected armed robberies on Saturday.
Police received reports of a man with a firearm entering a bank and a bookmakers near Marloes Road in Kensington on Saturday afternoon.
The man left in a black Mercedes taxi which was stopped by armed officers a short distance away 15 minutes later.
Witnesses reported seeing the man being shot three times while in the car then being dragged out by officers. Footage showed a white man believed to be in his 30s or 40s writhing on the ground with two armed officers standing over him.
An air ambulance was called out and CPR was administered by paramedics but the suspect, who has not been named, died at the scene.
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The Met has referred the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which said yesterday that a “non-police issue firearm” was recovered from the scene. In a statement, the watchdog said: “After being notified of the incident by the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service], we sent investigators to the scene to start gathering evidence.”
Witnesses described hearing two loud bangs and then a third after a few seconds delay, before a large number of emergency vehicles converged on the scene. A section of Kensington High Street was cordoned off for the rest of the day.
Katie Roberton, 40, who was visiting Kensington Palace with her son, said: “We heard these shots and I said to my boy ‘That sounds like gunshots’. It was not ‘bang, bang, bang’ but slower, all over in seven seconds.
“I stopped in my tracks and so did another woman ahead of me, then we saw people running.”
She told the Evening Standard: “It was really scary. I was with my son, so I had to stay calm for him. We walked to the side of the palace where the cars go in. The police there said they had no idea what was going on but it could be something to do with the embassies. We just got out of there as soon as we could.” Another witness told the Sunday Times: “I was driving past when I saw the police cut up a black taxi, so I did a U-turn and as I got out of the car I saw the police fire two shots and another shot after three or four seconds.
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“I was standing around 20 metres away. I saw them drag him out of the black taxi.
“They handcuffed him while he was on the floor. He was struggling at the start but they had him under control. By then they realised he couldn’t breathe or was struggling for his breath, so they quickly started first aid and CPR. After that the police told us to get back so I left.”
The shooting happened outside the Baglioni Hotel and staff said they were told to keep guests away from the windows and stop them going outside.
The Met said that efforts were under way to identify the man and notify his next of kin. The incident was not being treated as terrorism.