Two people were shot at a house in Kent in what witnesses described as a “chilling” hostage situation involving a standoff with police.
The incident in Priory Road, Dartford, happened on Saturday afternoon. Kent police said a man and a woman were admitted to hospital with serious injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. They remain in a serious condition.
Armed police and a trained police negotiator were called to a disturbance at the terrace house at 12.40pm. No Kent police weapons were fired, the force said.
Officers “attempted to engage with a man inside the address”, a police spokesperson said. “Whilst they were at the scene, a man and a woman suffered serious injuries consistent with gunshot wounds and were taken to a London hospital where they remain in a serious condition.”
PA Media reported that witnesses who lived nearby said a woman had been held hostage at the back of the property. After an hour-long standoff, “pandemonium” broke out and neighbours heard what they described as sounding like two rounds of gunshots.
One woman, who wished not to be named, described the scene as “chilling”. She said: “I was in the house and my husband and two girls were out – they couldn’t get back home. I went out and was told ‘get back – you must stay indoors’. I went to the garden where I could see more.”
About an hour after police entered the property, she said, she heard gunshots before a person was carried out on a stretcher. “It was pandemonium,” she said. “I heard five gunshots – a pause and then another five.”
Kent police said: “Police are treating this as an isolated incident and are not looking for anyone else in connection with it. Patrols remain in the area and enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances and how the injuries were sustained.”
Due to police being at the scene at the time of the injuries, a mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
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