Oxford Circus incident - as it happened: Police say no evidence of gunshots or attack in central London

Oxford Circus Incident: What happened?

A major police incident has come to a close after police found no evidence of gunshots or injuries.

After numerous reports suggested that there had been gunshots at Oxford Circus station, police said they were responding to the event as if it was a terror attack. But they found no evidence of any shots or attack, and apparently the many 999 calls were baseless.

The reports triggered panic on one of the world's busiest shopping streets, leading people to flee into restaurants and shops on the instruction of the police.

It came in the middle of Black Friday, when the street and station may have been even more busy than usual.

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Key Points

• Oxford Circus evacuation: Armed police clear Tube station amid reports of smoke
• Police ‘responding to incident as if terror related’ amid reports of shots fired in central London

[24 November 2017 18:01 · Andrew Griffin]

 

Lucy Hough

@lucyhough33

The staff in Hamley’s on Regent Street are amazing. Keeping the people on lockdown here- including dozens of childr… https://t.co/VOHrMgVZTT

5:51 PM - 24 Nov 2017

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[24 November 2017 18:02 · Andrew Griffin]

Two London underground stations on Oxford Street have reopened after an incident that police initially treated as if it might be terrorist-related, the city's transport authority said on Friday.

"Oxford Circus and Bond Street stations now both reopened and all trains are stopping normally," the transport authority said on one of its official Twitter accounts.

Police have said there is no evidence that shots had been fired or that there were any serious casualties. 

[24 November 2017 18:09 · Andrew Griffin]

The Met has confirmed in a tweet that it is standing down its police response. It looks as if there were no shots or any terror-related incident, though that – as well as what exactly happens – still remains to be confirmed.

[24 November 2017 18:11 · Andrew Griffin]

The police's statement suggests it received a number of 999 calls – but it's not clear where they came from or how they originated.

The Met response on Oxford Street has now been stood down. If you sought shelter in a building please now leave and follow the direction of police officers on the ground if you need assistance.

At 16:38hrs on Friday, 24 November police started to receive numerous 999 calls within a short space of time reporting shots fired in a number of locations on Oxford Street and at Oxford Circus underground station.

Given the nature of the information received, the Met responded in line with our existing operation as if the incident was terrorism, including the deployment of armed officers.

Officers working with colleagues from British Transport Police carried out an urgent search of the area. No causalities, evidence of any shots fired or any suspects were located by police.

Some cordons remain in place and additional officers remain on duty in the West End to reassure the public. We thank the public for their patience and assistance during our response.

If you see anything suspicious dial 999 immediately.

[24 November 2017 18:31 · Andrew Griffin]

The police have given a full account of events at Oxford Circus. It appears that initial – and apparently false – reports of gunfire spread through the station and led to a panicked evacuation of the station. Here are the full details from the two police forces involved.