Swindon shooting: Man shot in leg by police after lorry stolen

A man was shot in the leg by police after a lorry was stolen at gunpoint

A man has been shot by police after a lorry was stolen in an armed robbery.

Officers were called to the Rivermead Industrial Estate in Westlea, Swindon, at 17:00 BST after the vehicle was stolen by a man with a gun.

Police intercepted the lorry in Ridge Green and a man in his 50s was shot in the leg. He has been airlifted to hospital with injuries not thought to be life-threatening.

Wiltshire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Supt Phil Staynings said: "I want to reassure the community that this incident was dealt with swiftly. Nobody else was injured and the incident is now contained.

"However, people living in the area will have seen a heavy police presence, which will continue throughout the evening.

"Due to the fact that a police firearm was discharged, we have automatically referred the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct."

In video circulating on social media officers can be repeatedly heard shouting "put the gun down".

Residents living nearby told the BBC they heard "at least one gunshot".

A spokesman for the IOPC, which has launched an independent investigation into the shooting, said: "We understand, at this time, that officers from Wiltshire Police were called to a disturbance shortly after 5pm today following reports of an armed robbery in Rivermead Industrial Estate, Westlea.

"We have sent investigators to the scene and to the post-incident procedures."