Police shoot and kill man in another standoff

[David Guyatt]

It's become all too frequent.

Note the Armed Police Plc spin in the first para:

A man is being treated for a gunshot wound after a 16-hour standoff with police in Luton. Police said the man discharged his weapon "and a police firearms officer may also have fired a shot".

The man was shot and killed by police and a second shot was fired by... no one is saying. Luton, of course, is "terrorist central" these days.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/24...ark-gunman

Man treated for gunshot wound amid police standoff


Paramedics tend to man apparently armed with sawn-off shotgun in Luton park after eyewitnesses report a gunshot

Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Monday 24 January 2011 11.22 GMT

Police have cordoned off an area around Leagrave Common in Luton, Bedfordshire. Photograph: Arthur Turner / Alamy/Alamy
A man is being treated for a gunshot wound after a 16-hour standoff with police in Luton. Police said the man discharged his weapon "and a police firearms officer may also have fired a shot".

Armed police are negotiating with the gunman after he was stopped by officers while walking across a park last night. Police cordoned off an area around Leagrave Common after a stand-off started at 8.30pm.

Dozens of officers remained in place this morning, and a single gunshot was heard at about midday at the centre of the police operation.

A police spokeswoman said: "The man is still on the field. The ambulance service is still working. He is not dead." She said the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) would be informed in due course.

A witness said a man could be seen lying on the floor apparently holding a sawn-off shotgun to his head. "There was a gunshot. The man is now lying on the ground. He is surrounded by armed police and paramedics," he said.

Earlier, the witness said the man was sitting cross-legged on a football pitch close to a set of goalposts. He said the man was holding an object that looked like a shotgun to his chin, with the butt of the gun in his lap. The man was described as aged in his late 30s or early 40s.

Police said there was no danger to the public, although people were asked to stay away from the area.