Man shot dead in armed siege in West Yorkshir

[David Guyatt]

I'm posting this as a yet another case in a worrying trend of armed police killing in the UK.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/28/ukcrime

Man shot dead in armed siege in West Yorkshire

Police shoot dead gunman after overnight siege in West Yorkshire village
Officer wounded after man opened fire from doorstep

Martin Wainwright
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 December 2010 09.47 GMT

A gunman who wounded a police officer with a pistol was shot dead early this morning after an overnight siege.

Officers returned fire after the 42-year-old began a second round of shooting at 5.30am from an end-of-terrace house in the village of Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.

The building had been surrounded since shortly after 10pm last night when officers called to question the man, who lived alone. He had allegedly made threats to the owner of a property nearby, but when he saw the police he fetched a handgun and opened fire from his doorstep.

West Yorkshire police said that a male constable was hit and suffered minor injuries. The man then retreated inside and fired again at intervals from a window.

Armed officers cordoned off Cockley Hill Lane, 100 yards from the centre of Kirkheaton, but did not evacuate neighbours because the position of the house was not thought likely to pose a threat. Attempts were made overnight to negotiate a peaceful end to the stand-off, but shooting broke out again this morning. The man was taken from the house by ambulance shortly before 6am but died shortly afterwards at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

A police spokesman said: "We regret that the incident at the house did not conclude peacefully as we had hoped and can confirm that the man taken to hospital from the address has now died. We are not in a position to name him at the moment."

A BBC cameraman at the scene said: "There were three loud bangs - possibly gunfire. Then the police started shouting and I heard them smashing glass as they went in to the house. They were shouting at the gunman to show them his hands."

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: "Just after 10pm yesterday officers attended a domestic address in the Kirkheaton area of Huddersfield to arrest a man following an incident earlier in the day.

"The man produced a gun and fired at the officers. A male officer in his 20s was hit and attended hospital for minor injuries but has since been discharged."

Police had tried to resolve the situation peacefully, said the spokesman, although shots were "continually" fired at officers.

The man was named locally as Alistair Bell, described by neighbours as an unemployed loner with a history of suspected drug abuse.

Margaret Ainley, who lives on Cockley Hill Lane, said: "He was a bit of a troubled lad, there were problems with drugs I think. He never bothered me and would always wave if we crossed in the street.

"He didn't work, mind, and lived in the house on his own. His car has been abandoned in a field nearby, I've no idea what it's doing there."

Another woman who lives opposite the terrace and did not want to be named, said: "I'd gone to bed at about 9.30pm. I was lying there when I heard what I thought were shots being fired.

"I went downstairs and I saw there were lots of police in the street. I heard one of the officers calling for back-up on the radio.

"Next minute an officer was at the door telling us to stay inside and not to worry. We knew it was serious when the police helicopter turned up and kept on shining its beam on to the house.

"I didn't get much sleep at all last night with all this going on. I didn't see any of the shots being fired as I kept my head down after hearing the first few.

"I've seen the man who lives in the house around quite a bit. He tended to keep himself to himself though and seemed a bit of a loner."

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it had deployed a Hazardous Area Response Team after the initial shootings at 10pm last night.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has started an inquiry into the incident.