A man has died in a “police shooting” near the M5 motorway in the Bristol area.<\/p>\n
The incident happened on the Portbury Hundred (A369) near the M5 junction 19 for Portishead at around 09:30 BST.<\/p>\n
The road remains closed in both directions.<\/p>\n
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed the fatality and has referred the shooting to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said: “We can confirm a man died earlier this morning in an incident involving police firearms on The Portbury Hundred (A369) in Portishead.<\/p>\n
“We have referred the incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.<\/p>\n
“This has been a fast moving incident and is now under investigation by the IPCC.”<\/p>\n
David Ellison told BBC Radio Bristol he saw officers fire between six and 10 shots through the passenger window using handguns.<\/p>\n
“They surrounded it. They shot maybe five, six or ten times,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Then they dragged a man from the car to resuscitate him.<\/p>\n
“It came off the roundabout towards Portishead and then was boxed in by cars.”<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Jon Kay, who is at the scene, said there was a red car with smashed windows visible behind the police cordon.<\/p>\n
An air ambulance is at the scene along with Great Western Ambulance’s critical care team.<\/p>\n
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: “Motorists will not be able to access Portishead from Junction 19 of the M5.<\/p>\n
“We anticipate the road will remain closed for some time.”<\/p>\n
The Portbury hundred links the M5 motorway to the town of Portishead, to the south of Bristol.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"