Two people were today believed to have been shot by armed police after hacking a man to death with a machete in front of dozens of eyewitnesses.
Police were called this afternoon to reports of an assault in Woolwich, south London where witnesses claimed a man wearing a Help For Heroes t-shirt was attacked with knives.
The pair were then confronted by armed police and apparently shot by a female officer as they brandished weapons including a revolver.
This afternoon the area’s MP, Nick Raynsford, told BBC Radio 5 Live he believed the victim of the attack was a serving soldier. The scene of the attack is just yards from Woolwich Barracks.
Mr Raynsford told the BBC: Mr Raynsford said: 'The circumstances causing the incident are not yet clear. It's been suggested it was the product of a road traffic accident, but that's pure speculation.
'We think a serving soldier was the victim. We don't know the circumstances surrounding the incident.
'We do know a number of weapons have been seized. They include a gun, various knives, and a machete, apparently.
'The police clearly had to take action in order to try and arrest these individuals.'
The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is called in whenever firearms officers shoot people, said it investigating.
Footage from a television news helicopter showed a large collection of weapons lying in the street in Woolwich following the incident.
A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said one man had died at the scene.
He said: 'Our staff treated two others. Both men were taken to hospital, one of them is in a serious condition, the other is not.'
One witness, identified as James, said he and his partner saw two black men attack the young victim with knives, including a meat cleaver.
'They were hacking at this poor guy, literally,' he told LBC. 'They were hacking at him, chopping him, cutting him.'
Fighting back tears, James said the men treated their victim as a 'piece of meat' after he was dead.
'These two guys were crazed,' he told the radio station. 'They were just animals. They dragged him from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road and left his body there.'
Luke Huseyin, 32, who lives in a block of flats on John Wilson Street, Woolwich, close to where the incident happened said he watched two men murder a man before being shot.
He said: 'I was at home and heard a big bang. I looked out of the window and saw a car had crashed.
'It was a blue Vauxhall. Then two black guys got out of the car dragging a white guy across the road towards the wall. One of the guys had a knife that looked about a foot long and a machete and the other bloke had a gun.
'They started slashing him up with the knife and hitting him in the stomach with the machete. I don't think it took long before he was dead. There were people passing by who were screaming and running away. I've never seen anything like it.
'I'm still really shaken up. When he was dead, they dragged him out into the road and left him there.
'It was strange, they didn't run off, they just stood there as if they were waiting for the police.
'It must've taken about 20 minutes for the police to arrive, I think it must've been because they were waiting for armed police.
'The police officers got out of the car and the two black men ran towards them with the gun.
'The police shot them. They fell to the ground. Then a helicopter landed. Think it must've been an air ambulance.
'The paramedics got out and I think they were working on the two men to try and keep them alive.
'I don't know if they died, they were taken away in the helicopter. A blanket was put over the white guy lying in the road. 'I just can't believe what I saw.'
Mother-of-four Julia Wilders, 51, said she was travelling past the scene and saw two men hacking at a man with meat cleavers.
'Graham was driving and we drove past the car which was up against a lamp post.
'There were two black guys that looked like they were trying to resuscitate a white guy on the floor. I thought there'd been an accident.
'But then I saw they were using meat cleavers to hack him up. We live just behind where it happened and once we got back we walked back to have a look and that's when I saw one of the black guys pull out a handgun.
'My husband screamed at me to get back. I was petrified. As I was running back I saw the police pull up and the black guy was running towards the police car and they shot him.
'I didn't see anything else, I just run back home.'
David Dixon is the headteacher of Mulgrave Primary School, which is located about 50 metres from the scene of the incident. He saw a body in the road after realising something was happening and immediately locked down the school.
He said: ‘It was at the end of our road. As soon as we realised it was serious I went to see what had happened and then told staff to lock down the school and get the children inside. I spoke to police to ask what we should do.
‘There seemed to be a body in the middle of the road. The traffic was backed up and the police were on the scene.
A woman working in an office overlooking the incident in Woolwich said: 'I can see three bodies lying in the road with red blankets over them.
'All the bodies are within about 30-40 metres of each other. It looks like the police have covered them over.
'I could see armed police all over the place. There was a lot of commotion, police running around in all different directions, as if they were looking for other people.
'I've been told that a man was attacked with a machete and then the police arrived on the scene very, very quickly, and shot two men dead.'
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'Officers were called at 2.20pm to John Wilson Street in Woolwich. It was to what we believe was an initial report of an assault.'
Twitter user Boya Dee wrote: 'Ohhhhh myyyy God!!!! I just see a man with his head chopped off right in front of my eyes!
'Oh my God!!!! The way Feds took them out!!! It was a female police officer she come out the whip and just started bussssin shots!!
'Mate ive seen alot of s*** im my time but that has to rank sumwhere in the top 3. I couldnt believe my eyes. That was some movie s***.'
He added: 'The two black bredas run this white guy over over then hop out the car and start chopping mans head off with machete!!
'People were asking whyyy whyyy they were just saying we've had enough! They looked like they were on sutn! Then they start waving a revolver
'Then boydem turn up!! Woolwich feds didnt want it... They had to wait for armed response.. Helicopters everyting...
'Then thats how u know they were on sutn cos they actually went for armed feds with just two machete and an old rusty lookin revolver
'The first guy goes for the female fed with the machete and she not even ramping she took man out like robocop never seen nutn like it
'Then the next breda try buss off the rusty 45 and it just backfires and blows mans finger clean off... Feds didnt pet to just take him out!!
'These times i was just going to the shop for some fruit and veg and i see all that!'
A spokeswoman for London Ambulance Service said: 'We were called a 2.20pm to reports of an incident at John Wilson Street.
'We sent two responders in cars, three ambulance crews, two duty officers and London Air Ambulance were called out.
'We still have staff at the scene.'
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