By Jason Bennetto

02 January 2003

Shots were fired inside the flat at the centre of a seven-day armed siege last night.

Police who have surrounded the flat in Hackney, east London, since Boxing Day, said they heard what "may have been a shot or shots" at about 5pm. A spokesman said the police did not return fire, and neither the gunman nor the hostage had been hurt.

Police could not elaborate because of the sensitivity of the situation, he added.

About 50 officers, some of them armed, have been surrounding a flat after a man opened fire on the police.

Scotland Yard said the hostage held in the flat in Hackney was "safe and well" and had spoken to a negotiator. A spokeswoman said no deadline had been set by either side and talks were continuing. Police believe that Eli Hall, 32, has at least one firearm, and negotiators have been communicating with him by mobile phone and loudhailer. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=365804

-- Anonymous, January 02, 2003