Gunshots were heard on one of Islington’s most desirable streets on Tuesday, when armed police arrested four men.
Witnesses reported seeing around six police officers carrying sub-machine guns, and wearing body armour and baseball caps, surrounding a white estate car on Calabria Road, Highbury at around 6pm on Tuesday.
People who saw the incident said they heard what they thought were two gunshots.
The police cordoned off the area, ordering residents back into their homes.
Jonathan Pelham, 26, who lives nearby, was walking home from work along Calabria Road when he witnessed the incident.
He said: “I [saw] a silver saloon car swoop to a stop, in front of a white estate parked next to the curb, not more than two or three metres from where I was standing.
“The doors of the saloon flew open, around six police jumped out clutching sub-machine guns and I heard a loud bang. I heard lots of shouting: ‘Drop the f***ing gun! Don’t f***ing move! Stay where you are!’
“The shouting was momentarily interrupted by another bang before the armed policemen wrestled someone, I couldn’t see who, out of the car.
Residents of the road, who did not want to be named, confirmed they had seen an incident involving armed police and that shots were fired.
One resident, who lives near where the incident happened on the corner of Fergus Road, said: “My youngest son phoned my wife and I to tell us to avoid the area.
“When I returned from work at about 7pm there was still a police van parked on the road. I think plain clothes officers were still present, they must have been looking for evidence.”
The Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “At 18:21 on 23 March 2010, armed officers from the Met’s Specialist Firearms Unit, acting on intelligence, stopped a vehicle that was believed to have links with firearms at the junction of Fergus Road and Calabria Road. Police used specialist weapons to deflate the tyres so that the car could not drive off once required to stop, ensuring the safety of the public.
“Four men aged in their mid twenties were arrested for taking and driving away. No further action is being taken against those individuals.”
Photo: Tom Brooks-Pollock
READ MORE: Turkish supermarket to be replaced by Sainsbury’s
