Video: Police shoot at '˜man with axe' in Hull city centre

The area has been cordoned off and there is a heavy police presence.

Fire officers could be seen erecting large screens in a car park in Francis Street and there appeared to be a red and white screen in place outside a building.

Office workers stood outside the building watching as police stood guard at the cordons.

Lee Haywood, who is working opposite Charles Street heard the gunshots. He said: “It’s shocking. It was scary seeing all the police, then the ambulance came, it was mental. There must have been 20 police. My girlfriend works opposite and she told me her friend saw someone Tasered, he carried on, then they shot him, he had an axe apparently.”

Karen Palmer, from Sunny’s Café, on Francis Street, said: “A customer came in, she was looking out of the window of her business. She said they Tasered him, he wouldn’t go down. They shot him once and he was still acting up and they shot him again.”

A man near the scene, who did not want to be named, said he believed the injured man was his cousin.

He said his cousin suffers from mental health issues and has problems with drugs.

He said: “All I’ve heard is one of my friends rang me and said ‘Your cousin’s been running around with an axe and he’s been Tasered and they’ve shot him’. That’s all I know.

“I’m going to go and find out how he is now.”

A woman who identified herself only as Rachel, was on a training course, when she and fellow students heard gun shots. She said the man, in his 30s, was wriggling about on the pavement, blood pouring from two wounds, struggling with police.

“We heard screaming. There were six coppers on him trying to pin him down. He had four to six Taser prongs in his back. He was struggling and bleeding, it was just pouring out of him. His boxers were soaked in blood.”

Andre Foster, who was on the same course, added: “Blood was just pouring out of him like you don’t know what. The time it took for an ambulance to come was a joke.”

Humberside Police said: “The man, who cannot be named, is now receiving medical attention.

“An investigation is under way and the incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is standard practice in such incidents.

“We are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident at this time.”