Man shot dead after armed officers respond to reports of gunman in bank

A man has died after sustaining gunshot wounds in an incident involving armed officers, close to Kensington Palace in London.

Police were called just after 3pm following reports of a man carrying a gun into a bank and a bookshop near Marloes Road in the Kensington area of the city.

He was then seen fleeing the scene in a car.

Shortly afterwards armed officers stopped a vehicle at the junction of Kensington Road and Palace Gate. Shots were fired and a man sustained gunshot wounds.

Medics arrived but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident is not being treated as terrorism.

Police said in a statement they are working to identify the man and inform his next of kin.

A number of road closures are in place near the scene, with 10 police cars in place around the cordon, and Kensington High Street will remain closed for the rest of the evening.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said crews were called at 3.23pm to reports of a shooting.

“We sent an ambulance, an incident response officer, a tactical response unit, a motorcycle response unit and an advanced paramedic. The London Air Ambulance car also responded,” they said. "We treated a man on scene, who unfortunately died.”

The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards has been informed and the incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The IOPC confirmed it has begun an investigation, with a spokesperson adding: “After being notified of the incident by the MPS, we sent investigators to the scene and the post-incident procedure to start gathering evidence,” a spokesperson said.