Man in hospital after being shot by police

A man was in a serious condition in hospital today after being shot by police responding to a domestic incident.

The man, 44, was shot after firearms officers responded to a 999 call at a house in Whinney Hill Park, Brighouse, West Yorks, just after midnight.

There was a disturbance in the house during which a police firearm was discharged, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said.

The man, who has not been named, was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary with gunshot wounds.

The IPCC is now investigating the shooting.

West Yorkshire Police said it could not comment as the matter was being investigated by the IPCC.

An area surrounding the first five houses in Whinney Hill Park was taped off today as police guarded the perimeters of the scene.

Number four, a two-storey mid-terrace house, had a broken downstairs window, which had been boarded up, while upstairs windows at the front and back were also either covered by newspaper or boarded up.

The street, which overlooks an area of green space, was described by local residents as "rough" and frequented by drug dealers.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said she heard a number of shots being fired in the early hours of this morning.

"We heard a few shots being fired, I think, but we thought it was fireworks," she said.

Her husband added: "I went to look out at the front and the back, but I couldn't see anything at all, so we went back to bed."

The couple said they avoided leaving their home after dark, because they felt unsafe.

June Moorhouse, 49, who lives in the road behind Whinney Hill Park, said she felt afraid in the area.

She said: "I heard a lot of noise last night, but I didn't go and see what it was.

"This area is rough. I've been trying to get moved.

"There are loads of drug dealers, people out on the street at God knows what hours. It's a shocking area."