Police Probe Chelsea Siege Death

By Sky News SkyNews - Wednesday, May 7 09:08 am

A man shot dead during a five-hour armed siege in one of Britain's most expensive streets may be named today.

The man, aged 32, died yesterday evening after trading shots with police in Markham Square, Chelsea, west London.

A post-mortem will now take place on his body and the Independent Police Complaints Committee (IPCC) has launched a probe into the shooting.

It is not thought that anybody has been shot dead by Met Police officers since Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes was gunned down at Stockwell Tube station in July 2005.

Part of Markham Square remains cordoned off and bullet holes can clearly be seen in the first and second floor windows of the property in which the man was holed up.

The siege began when armed officers were called to reports of gunshots from a residential property around 4.50pm yesterday.

An IPCC spokesman said: "It would appear there were exchanges of fire during the course of the evening.

"The Metropolitan Police Service's firearms officers entered a house in Markham Square and found the man.

"He was taken outside and given first aid and an ambulance called. The man was pronounced dead at the scene."

The Kings Road was closed during the incident and a number of shop workers and customers were forced to lock themselves in nearby buildings as the siege unfolded.

A 44-year-old woman who lives just doors down from the stormed property spoke of her shock at the incident.

She said: "You do not expect these things to happen - it is a nice place, a safe place.

"Around 3pm I heard the helicopter then at 5pm I wanted to go out but the police said 'get inside the house, stay inside the house."'

She was eventually told she could leave at around 10pm.

The woman described the square as a wealthy area in which most of the residents were professional home owners.

In February 2007, Markham Square was ranked as the 114th most expensive street in Britain in terms of average house prices.

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