Police shoot and kill woman

David Batty and agencies
Guardian Unlimited

Police today shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in Sevenoaks, Kent, after reports that she was carrying a gun.The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said the fatal shooting occurred at 1.20am close to the High Street in the town centre.

One shot was fired by officers. The woman was given first aid but died at the scene. A gun was recovered by police.

The IPCC is investigating the incident, which is standard procedure in fatal shootings.

Police search Suffolk Way near the High Street in Sevenoaks, Kent, after armed police shot and killed a woman. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

An IPCC spokesman said: “I can confirm that in the early hours of this morning Kent police fatally shot a person. This has been referred to the IPCC which has a team of investigators now at the scene.”

The body of the woman was carried away by a black private ambulance at about noon. The coroner has been informed, the IPCC said.

IPCC commissioner Nicola Williams said: “I send my sympathies to the woman’s family and friends and also the police officers concerned.”

The woman has not been formally identified but Ms Williams confirmed that the dead woman was from Sevenoaks. She declined to comment on whether the victim was already known to police.

She said up to eight officers attended the incident, adding that police shootings are “relatively rare” and that it is “unusual” for a woman to be the victim. The shooting was not part of a wider police investigation, she added.

Police cordoned off a large area in the town centre, including the bus station, while forensic experts conduct fingertip searches.

Resident Helen Brown, who was trying to take her young child around the corner to the library, said she was “shocked” that the incident had occurred in Sevenoaks.

“My husband sent me a text because he’d heard it on the radio and I thought he was joking. It’s a bit unsettling really,” she said.

Forensic officers could be seen working in the rear carpark of M & Co, a clothes shop based in the High Street. A member of staff said all the back windows had been covered with material and a policeman was guarding the rear entrance.

Other residents said a police helicopter hovered over nearby Knole Park for several hours this morning.

Three elderly ladies, who asked not to be named, said they had heard police helicopters early this morning.

“They’ve been circling over Knole Park,” one said. “There are plenty of spaces to hide there.”

She said she was “saddened” by the news and added: “It’s supposed to be such a good town.”

College students Harry Dix and Elliott Enos said that they usually skateboarded in the area.

Mr Enos said: “The only underworld in Sevenoaks is a couple of small-time drug dealers.”

He added that the only trouble they had experienced in the area was “getting shouted at by rich people to mind their cars”.

A spokeswoman for Kent police said the force planned to release a statement on the incident later today.

There have been three other cases where the police have shot a woman since 1980 but only one of those was fatal, according to the IPCC.

• In 1980 West Midlands police accidentally shot and killed Gail Kinchin, a pregnant 16-year-old.

• In 1985 police accidentally shot and paralysed Cherry Grace during a raid on her home in Brixton, south London, by officers searching for her son. The shooting in May was the trigger for the second wave of Brixton riots.

• On November 2 1997, Jane Lee was shot three times by police in Illford, Essex, but made a full recovery. The shooting occurred after Metropolitan Police officers received reports of an armed woman driving nearby.

Since 1985, 48 members of the public have been fatally shot by the police and another 61 have been wounded.

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