Horror at station Pret a Manger: Police ‘challenged a white man carrying a knife’ moments earlier than capturing him useless exterior Milton Keynes rail station

Armed officers ‘challenged a white man who was carrying a knife’ moments before shooting him outside Milton Keynes railway station, police have revealed.

Officers from Thames Valley Police (TVP) and British Transport Police (BTP) said they were called to ‘reports of a man carrying a firearm’ at 12.55pm yesterday.

Detectives told how they arrived at the station and ‘challenged’ the man but he ‘moved at speed towards officers with the knife before a shot was fired by police’.

TVP added that ‘life-saving actions were immediately taken at the scene’, but the man – who has not yet been named – was ‘sadly pronounced dead’ at 1.44pm.

In its first press release at 2.26pm, the force labelled the individual as a ‘man’ – but in an update at 9.10pm, he was described as a ‘white man’. Police also confirmed in the update that the weapon was a knife, despite them being called to reports of a firearm.

The man’s age has not yet been revealed, although MailOnline understands that he appeared to be in his 20s. TVP also confirmed the man has not been formally identified at this stage because the force has ‘not yet informed the man’s next of kin’.

TVP’s Milton Keynes commander Chief Superintendent Emma Baillie said last night: ‘We understand that this incident may cause concern locally, but we would like to reassure the community that there is no wider risk to the public.’

The force added that it had made a ‘mandatory referral’ to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which has begun to carry out an independent investigation.

TVP also said: ‘Officers remain at the scene, which is covering a large area outside the train station. However, the station remains open and trains are running as usual.

‘There is disruption to the bus station and taxi rank outside the station as this area is currently part of the scene. Please check before you travel as you may need to seek alternative travel arrangements.’

The shot was fired in the station square outside the building and police put a cordon in place around the area. 

Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, said in a statement issued at 7am today: ‘Early yesterday afternoon Thames Valley Police received a report of a man carrying a gun at Milton Keynes railway station.

‘When challenged, the man moved at speed towards officers with a knife and was shot by the police. Despite attempts by police officers to provide life-saving first aid the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Whilst this is of course a shocking incident there is no ongoing risk to the public.’

He added that it was ‘of course’ right that the IOPC reviews the incident, but continued: ‘From what I understand at this early stage I am confident that the officers should be praised for their actions to protect members of the public.

‘As a society we ask the police to put themselves in harm’s way every single day on our behalf, most of those officers are unarmed. The small number of armed officers often face even greater risks and carry a still greater responsibility.

‘Whilst it is right that yesterday’s incident is independently reviewed, it is important that we also recognise exactly what we are asking of our armed police officers.

‘It is tragic that a man died in yesterday’s incident, but I am thankful to the police officers who responded bravely and acted decisively in order to protect the public. If they had not done so the outcome could have been much worse.’

A large plastic barrier was initially erected immediately outside the exit to the station, with a ‘police line do not enter’ sign in place as an officer stood guard.

Extra barriers were then put up obscuring exits to the station, with multiple doors closed to the public and groups of passengers at times being staggered entering and leaving the station.

Witness Domenico Scalzo, 38, a delivery driver, told MailOnline : ‘It was very shocking – I will definitely have nightmares.’

He described how he rushed outside to see police officers giving CPR to the man who was bleeding. Mr Scalzo added that the man appeared to be aged in his 20s.

He said: ‘It’s really difficult for the police, there are teenagers around here as young as 12 carrying massive knives, but you don’t expect to see people gunned down in the streets by the police in the UK.

‘I was having my coffee and I saw a police Volvo arrive. I heard a pop – I used to work with firearms in private security, I knew it wasn’t a car backfiring or anything.’

The Italian national said he had lived in the UK for 13 years – seven in London before moving to Milton Keynes.

‘I’ve lived in places that are more dangerous and never seen anything like this before,’ he added.

Residents in flats above the station reported hearing a single loud noise before a large police and ambulance presence arrived.

Alan Brockbank, 70, said: ‘All I heard sounded like something heavy had been dropped, it didn’t sound like a shot or anything.’

A large police presence attended around ten minutes later, he said, adding: ‘Then, of course, they were all around the front of the building, actually we could see the person lying on the floor and they were trying to resuscitate him.’

He saw a man receiving CPR chest compressions who was partly obscured by the awning at the station exit.

Mr Brockbank and his wife Edith, 67, who are both retired, assumed someone had suffered something like a heart attack.

Mrs Brockbank said: ‘There was all sorts of activity trying to get people back, there was somebody trying to film it, the police were trying to tell them to go back.

‘We didn’t connect the bang with what was happening. I started looking to see what could have been dropped and I couldn’t see anything related to that sound.’

The husband added: ‘It was only later on we saw armed police with automatic weapons. There was two of them.’

Another man who lives in the flats above the station, but did not want to be identified, said he thought it was a gunshot immediately ‘because it was really loud’.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I heard the original bang from the shot, I think, but saw quite a lot of commotion outside, but that was pretty much it – they were pretty speedy.’

After hearing the noise, she went downstairs.

‘I didn’t actually realise what had happened but saw them giving CPR,’ she said. ‘There was quite a lot of police already there, they kind of sectioned off the area.’

Irisa Gordoni, who moved to Milton Keynes ten years ago from Italy, said that while knife crime was common, the area had begun to feel increasingly unsafe, especially for women.

She said: ‘We run a small family business and sometimes you know, so I’m always worried you know that something could happen in my shop or close to my shop.

‘It just makes me feel unsafe really, I feel like everyone feels a bit scared. You are scared to say anything to anyone because you don’t know how it will go down. The train station is only 15 minutes from here.

‘I feel the difference, it’s become really unsafe to walk around. It used to be different because I was new to the area…I used to like it a lot.’

A worker at a nearby store added: ‘I have never known anything like it. It is obviously concerning, we have never heard anything happen like this before.’

Two police cars remained parked by two forensic tents inside the cordon by yesterday evening.

One was on the pavement and had a red asterisk in the rear window, which can indicate an armed response vehicle. Another was straddling the pavement and the street.

Both vehicles were immediately outside a Pret A Manger close to the station exit.

Shazna Muzammil, a councillor and Conservative group leader at Milton Keynes City Council, said she was ‘deeply shocked’ by what happened.

She wrote on X: ‘Our thoughts are with all those there and affected by it. It must have been quite a shock. Very thankful to the police and emergency services for their swift response in keeping everyone safe.’

BTP said its officers remained on scene yesterday to assist colleagues from TVP.

A spokesman said: ‘BTP received a report from Thames Valley Police at 1pm of a man carrying a firearm at Milton Keynes station.

‘Armed officers from Thames Valley Police responded and he was shot and pronounced dead outside of the station.’

The Independent Office for Police Conduct confirmed it began an investigation at 2.26pm yesterday – the same time the first TVP press release was issued – after being contacted by the force.

A spokesman, who described the investigation as being ‘in its very early stages,’ added: ‘We were notified by TVP shortly after the incident and IOPC investigators have been sent to the station and the police post incident procedure to begin gathering information.

‘Our thoughts are with the family of the man who died and all those who have been affected by this incident.

‘Our role in these circumstances is to independently investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident including the actions and decisions taken by the police.’