Man is shot by officers after brandishing blade

A man is in a critical condition after being shot by police in south London yesterday.

Armed officers were sent to the scene in Elsinore Road, Forest Hill, after he threatened local police with "a large bladed weapon". Scotland Yard said he is in a "critical but stable" condition in hospital.

Police were called at around 5.40am yesterday morning to reports of a man attempting to break into a car in Elsinore Road.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Local officers attended and attempted to approach the man, who then threatened them with a large bladed weapon.

The firearms officers deployed both Tasers and firearms and the man received gunshot wounds.

"London Ambulance Service attended and took the man to a south London hospital. He is critical but stable," the Scotland Yard spokesman added. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an investigation.

A spokesman said the man, in his early twenties, originally from Ghana, was being treated at King's College Hospital.

PA