Stock: Met Police officers
(Picture: Met Police)The police watchdog has opened an investigation after armed Met officers shot a man in the hand after stopping a car in Chelsea on Sunday.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said a car, believed to be connected to a fatal stabbing in Southampton, travelled into London before it was stopped by armed Met officers in Chelsea around 9pm, at the junction of King’s Road and Beaufort Street.
It said a single shot was fired by police, causing a hand injury to one of the men in the car.
His injury is not believed to be life-threatening and he remains in hospital. The other three men in the vehicle were arrested at the scene.
IOPC Regional Director Graham Beesley said: “The discharge of firearms by police officers is relatively rare but where potentially lethal force has been used, it is important that we carry out an independent investigation into the circumstances.”
The watchdog’s investigators were sent to the scene and they will now review the radio communication, body worn footage, and initial accounts of the officers involved, who are all currently being treated as witnesses.
Hampshire Police had launched a murder investigation earlier on Sunday after a 19-year-old man was stabbed in Southampton’s Langhorn Road and later died.
Its officers said five men between the ages of 20-46 had been arrested on suspicion of murder, including a 35-year-old from Lambeth.
They remain in police custody.
