Armed police remained in a tense standoff with a knifeman on Monday evening in an ongoing incident that had forced the closure of a high street for nearly 12 hours. Footage posted on social media appeared to show a man leaning out of a window in a block of flats in Lewisham High Street while brandishing a knife, as well as waving it around inside the flat. The apartment is on the third floor of a building, the ground floor of which is a row of shops.
Lewisham High Street was closed shortly before 11am on Monday morning, with a stretch of the road still closed as of 9pm on Monday evening. Armed police could be seen on standby near the scene. The incident unfolded metres away from Lewisham police station. The stand-off left some residents unable to access their homes due to the police cordon. A Met Police spokesperson said there was no information available to suggest there was anyone else inside the property and that officers were speaking to the man.
One passer-by, Callum Fahim, told the BBC that he saw a man leaning out of a third-floor window and waving a large knife around. "There are two armed police officers with a gun aimed at him, and they've been like that for a long time now,” he told the broadcaster. "I can't see any signs of any negotiations or anything taking place. There's fire engines, police and ambulance. "And now some police horses have turned up.".
A food retailer at nearby Lewisham Market said the stand-off had been going on for hours. "It's a waiting game," she said. “He's hiding himself around the corner because he knows they're pointing guns at him. At first nobody knew what was going on. "They keep moving the police cordon back," she added. A branch of HSBC opposite the flat was closed as a precaution, and the bank said no customers or staff were involved.
The incident remained ongoing as of Monday evening, a Lewisham Council spokesperson said. A Met Police spokesperson said shortly before 7pm: “Police were called to a disturbance on Lewisham High Street, at around 10:45hrs on Monday, 10 February. “Officers are currently in attendance at the scene alongside the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade. “We are speaking to a man inside a residential address at the location. There is no information available at this time to suggest there is anyone else inside the property.
