CCTV snares W12 gunman

by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
22/05/2008

A gun toting thug was arrested by armed police three minutes after eagle eyed CCTV operators spotted him outside a shopping centre in Shepherds Bush.

The lone gunman was tackled by armed cops three minutes after CCTV operators, from the W12 Shopping Centre, spotted him waving a gun around in broad daylight on Wednesday 30 April. CCTV images recorded at 6:10pm show shoppers, including women and children, peacefully going about their business as the thug openly plays with the weapon outside the shopping centre’s Rockley Road entrance.

Numerous times he pulls it from the waistband of his jeans and flashes it around – even pointing it at himself – before putting it back in his trousers. He performs this idiotic manoeuvre a number of times as the CCTV operator, working as part of Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s Safety Net Scheme, calls the police. The scheme allows local businesses to share live images instantly with council and Police CCTV control rooms.

After hearing the report of the pistol-waving madman, armed cops were immediately dispatched. Real-time footage shows the mindless thug, who we can’t name for legal reasons, lying motionless at 6:13pm after police carrying submachine guns and tasers restrained him.

Cllr Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour, said: “Thanks to the excellent partnership working between the CCTV operators at the W12 Centre, council officers and the Police this mindless idiot was arrested within minutes of being spotted on camera.”

After subduing the man, Police seized the gun, which appears to be an imitation, from the waistband of the suspect’s trousers.

Cllr Smith added: “Thankfully the gun appears to be a relatively harmless pellet gun but when you see someone waving what looks like a deadly weapon around, residents would have been terrified. 

And Detective Chief Inspector Geoff Smith said: “In real-time situations like these it can be virtually impossible to determine whether a weapon held by a suspect is real or not.

“Thankfully, this situation was resolved quickly, without officers having to resort to suing potentially lethal force to protect members of the public and themselves. I cannot emphasise enough the danger people put themselves in when they decide to carry real or imitation firearms.”

The suspect has been bailed to return for questioning on June 26 while the gun is being examined by experts.