Witnesses in shock over fatal Luton shooting

Eye witnesses tell of their horror after a 24-year-old man was shot dead by armed police following reports of a woman being attacked.

The young man, described as white and British, was fatally shot at a block of flats in Luton Beds., after officers were called at around 1.30pm yesterday.

A man living in a neighbouring street spoke of the moment emergency services frantically tried to save the unnamed male who was pronounced dead at 2.50pm.

He said: “I was walking down the road and I saw this blonde Eastern European looking women was getting escorted out of the building by a policeman.

“She wasn’t under arrest but he was holding her hand and he led her away into a van.

“She was crying and looked upset.

“Then some copper came out with of the building with a bandage on his hand.

“There was a police officer running around at the same time with a balaclava on and a sniper rifle.

“Then loads and loads of police cars and ambulances arrived. They rushed in the flats with a spinal board and brought this guy out.

“His neck was covered in blood. I thought he’d had it slashed. They tried to revive him for about 20 minutes and then put him in an ambulance.

“As they were putting him in the ambulance they were doing chest compressions on him.”

The East of England Ambulance Service attended the scene at around 1.30pm but were unable to comment on the injuries the male sustained.

It is alleged the man was armed with either a knife or gun at the time he was shot by a firearms officer.

The block of flats where the shooting took place is in a run down part of Luton, Beds., and most of the tennants are either council or from a housing association.

All the roads surrounding the block were closed by police as they carried out investigations on Wednesday night.

His next of kin have been informed.

Bedfordshire Police referred the incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).