After police shot dead a man they believed was carrying a gun at Milton Keynes Central train station, it has now been confirmed the deceased was carrying a knife, not a firearm
The man shot dead by police on Tuesday (April 1) was not carrying a gun as authorities previously reported but a knife.
It comes after officers were called to Milton Keynes Central train station at 12.55pm to reports of a man with a gun at Elder Gate. Armed police “challenged” the suspect before firing shots at him. Despite attempts to save the man’s life being made, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The force has now said officers challenged a man who was actually holding a knife and who had “moved at speed towards officers” with it. In a previous police statement, it had been mentioned the police were responding to reports of a man “carrying a firearm”.
As a result the independent police watchdog has now started an investigation into the incident, after the force referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The force said in a statement on Tuesday: “Armed officers from Thames Valley Police responded and challenged the man. Shots were subsequently fired by officers and life-saving actions were immediately taken at the scene, but the man was pronounced dead at 1.44pm.”
Residents in flats above the station said they heard a single loud noise before police arrived. “All I heard sounded like something heavy had been dropped, it didn’t sound like a shot or anything,” Alan Brockbank, 70, told the PA news agency.
He added: “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.”
Mr Brockbank’s wife Edith 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.”
British Transport Police told the Daily Star: “BTP received a report from Thames Valley Police at 1pm today (April 1), 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. BTP officers are on scene to assist our colleagues from TVP, and the station is open as normal.”
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