Irish man shot dead by police at UK train station is named

An Irish man who was shot dead by police in England last week has been named as David Joyce who was originally from County Galway.

The 38-year-old died after he sustained a single gunshot wound after police officers attended an incident at Milton Keynes railway station, around 50 miles north of London last Tuesday.

Having received reports of a man carrying a gun, armed officers challenged a white man who was carrying a knife outside the station before he moved at speed towards them.

“Shortly afterwards he was shot at close range,” the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which has launched an investigation into the incident, said.

A “single shot was fired by one officer”, a spokesperson for the watchdog added.

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The Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin has confirmed it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance to relatives of Mr Joyce, who lived in the Milton Keynes area.

An IOPC statement continued: “We have viewed police officers’ body worn video footage and a substantial amount of CCTV footage and established that, at around 1.04pm, the man was just outside the railway station main entrance with a knife in his hand and ran towards the officers.

“The man, David Joyce, 38, who lived in Milton Keynes, was given first aid by Thames Valley Police officers but died at the scene. The provisional cause of death is a single gunshot wound to the abdomen."

The IOPC has confirmed  that Mr Joyce's next of kin has been informed and he was formally identified before a post-mortem examination was conducted.

“We attended the police post incident procedures on Tuesday, where the officers involved provided their initial accounts of the incident. All officers who attended the scene are currently being treated as witnesses.

“We will be taking statements from members of the public who were at the station at the time and are looking to secure further CCTV from nearby public buildings.”

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IOPC director Derrick Campbell said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of this man and all of those affected by this tragic incident. Given a man has died after being shot by police, our role is to independently investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident including the actions and decisions taken by the police.

“We appreciate that this incident outside a busy train station will understandably cause concern. We know the community will want answers quickly and our investigators are working hard to establish the facts as we piece together what happened and how. We have obtained details of some members of the public who witnessed the incident who we will be contacting, however we know there were many people near the station around the time of the shooting and we want to hear from anyone who may have seen the incident or has footage of it."

Mr Campbell confirmed the IOPC has been in contact with Mr Joyce's and that they will keep them regularly updated throughout the investigation.