POLICE shot a man in a Bournemouth street in front of shocked passers-by.
Witnesses saw the man lying in the road in a pool of blood as armed officers shot out the tyres of the vehicle and smashed windows.

Man charged over alleged stabbing in Wimborne Road

A 36-year-old man was also pulled from the vehicle and arrested as the drama unfolded outside the Broadway pub on Castle Lane West just before 8.30pm last night.

A woman was also in the vehicle. She was not arrested.

Reports circulating on social media suggest that a Kevin Sherwood was one of the people involved in the incident.

The injured man, aged 59, who was driving the car, suffered a gunshot wound to the arm and was taken to hospital for treatment.

His condition is not believed to be life-threatening.

The police action was in relation to an ongoing investigation into a reported serious assault in Wimborne Road last week.

During the earlier incident armed police were called after a 24-year-old man was stabbed in the back, head and hand just after 7pm on August 2.

No arrests were made at the time.

Passers-by and residents said they were shocked by what happened at the junction of Castle Lane West and Broadway Lane last night.

John Amey, who was in the car park of the Broadway pub at the time, said: “I heard several bangs. At first I thought it was some sort of exercise.

"There were people in balaclavas and with machine guns. They were shouting ‘stop, stop, stop’ at the car, but it kept going.

“There was a lot of noise, but at the same time it seemed very controlled.

“After the shots they got a man out of the car and they had medics there straight away.”

Shop worker Kevin Shaji told the Daily Echo: "I was at the bus stop when I heard a loud bang. I thought at first that it was a car back-firing but then I realised it was a gunshot.

A police officer was shouting: "Get down, get down." I thought it was pretty exciting because you don't see things like that in Bournemouth very often."

A nearby resident said he was putting bins out at the front of his property when he saw a black car drive past, followed by a number of other vehicles.

"I heard gunshots and I thought that perhaps it was gangs fighting until I realised the vehicles behind the black car contained undercover police officers. The officers were wearing balaclavas.

"Seconds later three armed response vehicles turned up and they were followed by several marked police cars. It didn't appear to be a regular police chase. They all turned up very quickly and seemed to know exactly what they were doing."

He said the police helicopter was also on the scene within minutes.

A resident of Broadway Lane said: "I heard a loud bang and looked out of the window. I saw armed police pointing guns at somebody on the ground.

"Lots of people were running towards the incident and taking pictures on their phones. Half the people in the pub came out and some people were standing there with children which I thought was odd because shots had been fired."

A cordon was put in place which remains this morning.

The road is partly open but vehicles are unable to travel from Castle Lane West into Broadway Lane.

Police have launched an investigation but have refused to go into detail for operational reasons.

The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which will carry out a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.

The police watchdog, introduced in January this year, replaced the Independent Police Complaints Commission and promised “greater accountability to the public.”

A statement from the IOPC said the incident was part of a “planned operation”.

Catrin Evans, IOPC director with responsibility for Dorset Police, said: “Our investigation is looking into the planning of the police operation, as well as the circumstances of the shooting itself.

“We are anxious to identify as much information as possible which we will analyse as part of a thorough investigation. This incident occurred mid-evening on a busy street, and I’d be grateful for anyone who saw events unfold on Tuesday evening to get in touch with our investigators.”

Witnesses to the events on Castle Lane West are asked to come forward to the IOPC by calling 0800 096 9077 or emailing castlelanewest@policeconduct.gov.uk