UPDATE: Police said that they currently have no evidence of shots fired or casualties:
“We have not located any trace of suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties. Officers still on scene. If you are in a building stay there, if you are on the street in #OxfordStreet leave the area. Officers continue to search the area. More updates as soon as we have them.”
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An incident at a highly populated shopping area in London, England, sent scores of people fleeing on Friday.
It’s unclear exactly what happened, though the event quickly sparked panic and simultaneously made international news, with authorities reporting that there had been claims of shots being fired at Oxford Circus train station.
“Police called at 16:38 to a number of reports of shots fired on #OxfordStreet & underground at Oxford Circus tube station. Police have responded as if the incident is terrorist related,” read a post on the Metropolitan Police twitter account. “Armed and unarmed officers are on scene and dealing along with colleagues from @BTP.”
A separate post said police haven’t found any casualties, but encouraged people to “go into a building and stay inside until further direction” and to “void traveling to the Oxford Street area.”
One woman who said she was on the scene reported that the entire incident was gang-related:
https://twitter.com/lysipud
Here’s more:
https://twitter.com/i/moments/934103194275340289
This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.