Moment police aim ‘assault rifles’ at group of ’16-year-olds’ as two are pinned to the ground
- Several armed officers surrounded a group of young men in Hackney, London
- One of the men lay on the ground next to a red hire bike during the altercation
- Another boy lay on his front as an armed officer armed a gun at his head
Police officers aimed ‘assault rifles’ at a group of 16-year-olds while carrying out a stop and search, shocking video appears to show.
Several armed officers surrounded a group of young men on a doorstep in Hackney, London, after reports of a teenager in possession of a large knife in the area.
In the clip, one of the men lay on the ground as an officer pinned him to the floor.
The person taking the video then panned to show a close up of one of the boys on the floor as a huge firearm was pointed at him.
The search found no weapons and no arrests were made, police said.
Footage appeared to show several armed officers surrounding a group of young men on a doorstep in Hackney, London
In the footage, an unmarked police car arrives and another two firearms officers jump out to help, while a helicopter is heard hovering overhead.
A caption on the video read: ‘Look at how the fed on me nearly broke my arm one has a gun pointed at me and 1 comes over and backs out a taser.’
Worried residents could be seen standing in their doorways as the situation developed.
Police said they were responding to reports of a man in possession of a large knife and carried out a stop and search on the young men.
A 15-year-old boy was later arrested after he was found with a knife, police said, and he has since been charged.
The Met Police told MailOnline: ‘We are aware of a video circulating on social media showing armed officers stopping three males in Hackney. As with most of these videos, this only captures a small snapshot of a wider incident.
One man was handcuffed and taken away by officers. The boy who filmed wrote the caption: ‘Look at how the fed on me nearly broke my arm one has a gun pointed at me and 1 comes over and backs out a taser’
‘Officers had been called to the area at around 4pm on Thursday, 4 March by a concerned member of the public after a male was seen in possession of a large knife in Victoria Park, E3. The caller stated he was with two other males.
‘Given the nature of the information, the response involving armed officers was deemed necessary and proportionate.
‘Armed officers attended and three males were stopped in Shafton Road – they were searched and no weapons were found. None of those stopped were arrested.
‘At around 4.30pm a 15-year-old male was detained in Victoria Park Road, E9 and found in possession of a knife. He was taken into custody and has since been charged.
‘A review of the material available, including officers’ body worn video, has been carried out by the Directorate of Professional Standards and no misconduct issues have been identified. There has been no formal complaint.’
Chief Superintendent Andy Walker of the Met’s Firearms Command said: ‘Our officers have to deal with dynamic and often dangerous situations, making split second decisions as they keep Londoners safe.
‘While we recognise that stop and search can cause concern for communities across the capital, it does remain a highly valuable tactic and, as demonstrated here, is successful in taking potentially lethal weapons off our streets.’