Quote:Armed police shoot dead wanted manThu Feb 10 2011 15:51:36Armed officers have shot and killed a man in a pre-planned police operation in Brighton.

The man, who has not been named, was gunned down in Upper Rock Gardens shortly after 1pm on Thursday. He later died in hospital.

Sussex Police said officers were on an operation to locate a man wanted in connection with a number of crimes in the county in recent months.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed and is sending investigators to the scene.

Police stood guard at cordons at each end of the narrow one-way street, which connects the seafront with a busy shopping area.

Students at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, just a few doors down from where the incident took place, were ordered to stay inside by police.

Frankie Sparrowhawk, 18, said he walked outside just as the man was being shot.

He said: "I heard two gunshots and saw someone lying on the floor. There were five or six police officers there at that point.

"I was too far away to see if he was moving but it looked like one of them was trying to resuscitate him. An ambulance arrived within about two seconds."

Local resident Janet Hood, 67, said she was not able to get to her ground-floor flat in the street.