Policemen injured as shots fired outside Waterloo station
Two policemen have been taken to hospital after shots were fired outside London's Waterloo station, according to reports.
One officer suffered a cut to his thigh in The Cut, a busy shopping street outside the station, shortly after 3pm.
But a Metropolitan Police spokesman said it was not yet known how he suffered the injury.
Speaking at the scene, Acting Chief Inspector Malcolm Noone said: "At about 3pm today officers from Kennington police station stopped to speak to a male on a pedal cycle on Coin Street, SE1.
"As the officers approached this male, he dumped the pedal cycle and ran off into Blackfriars Street.
"As the officers ran into Blackfriars Street they were fired upon and the man ran off."
He said two officers had been taken to hospital, one with suspected minor injuries, which may have been a result of his diving out of the way of the shots.
The suspect is believed to be black, the officer said.
"There is an ongoing investigation into the full circumstances and to locate this individual."
The Cut runs between Waterloo railway station and Southwark Tube station, a short distance from the River Thames.
Sources said the first officer suffered a minor graze-type injury and it was not known what caused it.
Police cordoned off an area of Blackfriars Road from outside Southwark Underground station towards the river.
A number of police vehicles, ambulances and officers were at the scene.
Some people reported that officers had been seen searching along the railway track and a police helicopter had been circling overhead.
Along The Cut at the corner of Hatfields, the junction of the Anchor and Hope pub, officers also cordoned off a small area where a black mountain bike appeared to have been abandoned.
Eyewitnesses who had been having lunch in a restaurant described seeing the suspect run past them before turning and shooting twice at the officers.
They ducked for cover as one officer called: "Shots fired, shots fired."
Jill Cartwright, 35, a yoga teacher from Putney, south west London, was eating with four friends at the Thai Silk restaurant in Isabella Street when the man came past followed by two officers.
She said: "We saw the man run past followed by two policemen and we were laughing at it, singing the theme to The Bill.
"He didn't even look to be running very fast, but then he turned around and he fired.
"He was running as he turned and shot.
"It didn't sound like a real gun, it sounded something like a starter gun, but it shocked us."
She said it was a small, black gun and neither she nor her friends saw if any bullets struck.
"We all turned away from the table, either went down or ducked into the restaurant."
She said: "Even if it wasn't a real gun, which it may well have been, it was still shocking."
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