A man has been shot at Stockwell Tube station by armed police officers, police confirm.[/b]
Passengers were evacuated from a Tube train on the Northern Line station in south London after the incident.
Passenger Mark Whitby told BBC News he had seen an Asian man shot five times by "plain-clothes police officers".
Services on the Victoria and Northern lines have been suspended following a request by the police, London Underground said.
Police are hunting four would-be bombers after Thursday's London blasts.
The bombers fled after detonators went off, causing small blasts, but failed to detonate the bombs themselves.
Mr Whitby, told BBC News: "I saw an Asian guy run onto the train hotly pursued by three plain-clothes police officers.
"One of them was carrying a black handgun - it looked like an automatic - they pushed him to the floor, bundled on top of him and unloaded five shots into him."
Passenger Briony Coetsee said: "We were on the Tube and then we suddenly heard someone say, 'Get out, get out' and then we heard gunshots."
Mr_Lee_PHD
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it aint safe no more
I hate to say it, but I think this could be the tip of the iceberg. These might be the actioning of plans to commit attacks on a regular basis over a long period of time or something...
The worst part about it is there isn't a lot can be done unless someone knows about it in advance, like today.
Yes, this is all unheard of.
They'll probably do like they did in the US where every little podunk town will be convinced they are "the next target" because they have something important like like the world's largest ham radio.
Man, if I was a cop and I was trying to hold down some dude who had a belt bomb, I'd unload in his ass, and reload again. Rinse and repeat.
'SUICIDE BOMBER' SHOT
Police have killed a suspected suicide bomber at a Tube station in south London.
Armed officers opened fire on the suspect after he hurdled a ticket barrier and raced along a platform at Stockwell station.
Police screamed at passengers to evacuate and are thought to have shot the suspect as he stumbled on to a train.
Alarmed onlookers said they saw up to 10 plain-clothed officers chasing an Asian-looking man before opening fire.
Witness Mark Whitby was on the train as he saw a big man wearing a large coat and "looking absolutely petrified" lurch through the doors.
Admitting to being "totally distraught", he went on: "He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor.
"The policeman nearest to me had the black automatic pistol in his left hand, he held it down to the guy and unloaded five shots into him."
Unconfirmed reports suggest the man was involved in Thursday's assault on the capital; it is not known if he had a bomb when shot.
If the suspect is proved to be a suicide bomber, it would mark the fifth attempted terrorist attack on London in less than a day.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We can confirm that just after 10am armed officers shot a male at Stockwell Underground station.
"A man was challenged by officers and subsequently shot. London Ambulance Service attended the scene. He was pronounced dead at the scene."
Police are believed to be under orders to shoot to kill if they believe someone is about to detonate a bomb.
Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The officer or officers involved in this clearly felt this suspect was about to detonate a bomb."
Three eyewitnesses were taken to a nearby veterinary surgery by police before being taken away for interview.
Tube services on the Northern Line have been suspended at the request of police but the Victoria is running again.
An earlier bomb threat targeting a mosque in east London has been given the all-clear by police.
...and if dood had a bomb on him, the bullet could have set it off and blown all the officers away. That would have been sweet. Then what would you say?
I'm all for protection, but shooting a man after you have him held down is not the answer. First, you can't even question the guy to get more answers and possibly stop the next attack, and second what if he just wanted a free ride? lol.
I'm sorry. There is nothing about this that makes me feel good.
If it was an automatic...
Hence 5 shots...
We were talking about that last night....... its like 'Daign!! - We've got a museum dedicated to Edward Jenner !!! (the guy who discovered vaccination)...
..... They ghon smoke our asses fo'sho!!!!!'.
And if you were a cop, then I'm sure everybody would love to know your reasoning for such an action, you being a professional and all.
As much as I want to believe that the shooting of the suspect prevented a much more serious incident, hard facts are the only thing that are going to convince me.
Hey, I never said I'd be a good cop.
a total 'us vs them' war between the muslim world & the christian world is probably what bin laden is looking for.
I agree. The goal of terrorism isnt to make people fear terrorists its to make them fear their own government.
it's also what the States are looking for and what Britain has agreed to. as far as policy-makers and leaders are concerned - everyone's hands are dirty.
I think the invasion & occupation of Iraq is exactly what bin laden would have wanted - that has done more to alienate the islamic world from 'the west' than anything in years.
I was an eyewitness to the WTC 9/11 attacks - even before the the first tower collapsed people on the ground were enraged, "nuke 'em", 'destroy' etc. I felt the murderous desire for revenge in my own heart & realized that was exactly the result the bombers were looking for. I said a prayer asking for mercy for all humanity, let me tell ya.
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more than decades of colonialism, occupation and foreign interference you mean?
every leader is willing to sacrifice citizens for their cause.
what i am saying is that no one is more right, no lives are worth more than others and everyone has contributed to this fucking mess. are they going to contribute to fixing it, too? or just keep blowing up buses and invading countries they have no business being in? i'll tell you - after this morning, i don't feel hopeful, i feel downright depressed.
Did they really, really need that much help? I think it does an ok job of it just as it is.
Agreed, but if you shoot to kill a potential suicide bomber you do it carefully[/b] and with as few shots as possible[/b]. And at very close range, that rarely means 5. If it does, then generally speaking you shouldn't using a firearm, especially not on a train carriage carrying passengers.
Co-sign.
I already stated, that "if" the gun was an automatic (Like it was said to have been), that would account for why there was 5 shots.
The guy should not have been shot at all mind you if it wasn't a dangerous situation.
Sorry, I was under the impression that the person doing the shooting gets to choose how many shots they fire.
I doubt the police knew, either
...
Like... someone carrying a BACKPACK???!?!
This is getting ridiculous... Hurry, we need draconian police-state laws to protect us! Extend the PATRIOT ACT another 10 years, immediately!!!
Not with an Automatic.
Semi yes...
I would REALLY love to see how you would handle things if you had a gun in your hand and it was your sworn duty to protect the hundreds of innocent people around you and you had been briefed on how these guys might work and that there may be suicide bombers attacking and you HAVE to shoot to kill otherwise you and everyone around you is DEAD. And then you actually run into one, tackle him and his arm gets free or something...yeah, I'm REAL sure you'd worry about his life first.
Please don't talk shit about a situation until you know what went down or you've actually been in that situation yourself. it's REALLY easy to judge from your computer. you say you'd like to see the hard facts...so would I, but London cops NEVER bring out guns so I would be willing to bet it was warranted.
Also, I'm not gonna shed one tear for a suicide bomber...dude got what he fuckin wanted anyways...dead.
Cops don't...
Specialist officers do.
They had been trailing him all day. He's believed to be one of the guys from yesterday. It turns out that he didn't have a bomb.
They shouldn't have shot the guy at all.
But then, with him wearing a heavy coat in the summer and evading the law who knows...