A man shot dead by police officers at Milton Keynes railway station during the week has been named by the UK police watchdog as 38-year-old Irishman David Joyce. It is believed he was originally from Co Galway.
Officers were called to the station at about 12.55pm on Tuesday following reports of a man carrying a gun.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which has launched an investigation into the incident, said body-worn footage and CCTV showed Mr Joyce running towards officers with a knife in his hand just outside the station entrance at 1.04pm on Tuesday.
The watchdog said it had established that Joyce, who lived in Milton Keynes, was killed by one shot fired at close range.
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The IOPC director, Derrick Campbell, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of this man and all of those affected by this tragic incident.
“Given a man has died after being shot by police, our role is to independently investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident including the actions and decisions taken by the police.
“We appreciate that this incident outside a busy train station will understandably cause concern. We know the community will want answers quickly and our investigators are working hard to establish the facts as we piece together what happened and how.”
Mr Campbell said the IOPC has “obtained details of some members of the public who witnessed the incident who we will be contacting”, but called on more witnesses to come forward.
He added that the IOPC has contacted Mr Joyce’s family “and will meet with them soon to explain our role”.
“We will keep them regularly updated throughout our investigation.”
The provisional cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, the IOPC said. The officers involved provided their initial accounts of the incident to the watchdog and all officers who attended the scene are being treated as witnesses.
People in the flats above Milton Keynes Central station reported hearing a single loud noise before a large police and ambulance presence arrived on Tuesday. Alan Brockbank (70) said: “All I heard sounded like something heavy had been dropped, it didn’t sound like a shot or anything.”
A large police presence attended about 10 minutes later, he said, adding: “Then, of course, they were all around the front of the building, actually we could see the person lying on the floor and they were trying to resuscitate him.”
Another man who lives in the flats, but did not want to be identified, said he immediately thought it was a gunshot “because it was really loud”.
