A woman was injured when shoppers fled from London’s Oxford Street after false reports of shots being fired.<\/p>\n
The Met Police were called to the scene at 16:50 GMT and cordoned off an area around a smashed glass window at House of Fraser.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the force said a woman received “non-life threatening injuries” as a result of a fall.<\/p>\n
They added there was “nothing to indicate” that shots had been fired or a crime committed.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s James Waterhouse, who is at the scene, said two witnesses told him they saw three women run into the window, knocking displays over as they tried to leave.<\/p>\n
He said a police officer told him “it was an accident” and said that “there was a panic and someone tried to get out on the inside”.<\/p>\n
One shopper spoke of “craziness in House of Fraser” on Twitter, adding that she had “never been in a stampede before”, while another one posted there was a “stampede of people running”.<\/p>\n
BBC World Service reporter Faith Orr, who was passing by the scene in a taxi, said a “huge window” was “completely smashed” and that people had been evacuated.<\/p>\n
House of Fraser told the BBC the store has now fully reopened.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, police were called to reports of disturbances at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London.<\/p>\n
Officers attended at about 14:30 on Tuesday and “groups causing the disorder were dispersed,” a Met Police spokesman said.<\/p>\n
A man was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, the force added.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Twitter, Westfield Stratford said: “There was a minor disturbance early afternoon which has now been resolved.<\/p>\n
“The centre was not evacuated and is trading normally.”<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"