Last Updated Nov 24, 2017 1:40 PM EST
LONDON — British police flooded London’s busy Oxford Circus area Friday after receiving multiple reports of “shots fired.” They have not located any suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties.
Armed and unarmed officers rushed to the shopping district, and police said they were responding “as if the incident is terrorist related.” They did not, however, confirm that it was.
The busy Oxford Circus subway station was closed, and police told people in the area to take shelter in nearby stores. About an hour after the first reports, the station was reopened. Nearby Bond Street, which was also shut, also reopened.
Witnesses on social media reported people running into nearby shops and pubs for shelter. A BBC reporter said she saw a “mass stampede” of people fleeing the station, some of whom were screaming and crying.
Armed police officers mix with shoppers in an Oxford Street store in London, Britain, Nov. 24, 2017.
Reuters/Peter Nicholls
The Metropolitan Police force said officers were called just after 4:30 p.m. to “a number of reports of shots fired on Oxford Street and underground at Oxford Circus tube station.”
British Transport Police tweeted that a woman sustained a minor injury while leaving the station.
Police advised people to avoid the area, which was packed with commuters and shoppers at the end of the working week and amid Black Friday sales.
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