Man shoots himself with a crossbow

A 40-year-old Luton man is in a critical condition after shooting himself in the head with a crossbow.

An ambulance rushed the man to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital with the crossbow bolt embedded in his head, after a two-hour police standoff at his home.

Police arrived at the house in Abbotts Wood Road shortly after 2240 BST on Friday after being alerted by the ambulance service, who had received a call from a man who was threatening to kill himself.

The unnamed man claimed he was armed with a knife and a crossbow.

Police negotiators were called to the house and spoke to him on the telephone in the hope of persuading him to come out, but the man, who was alone in the house, said he had injected himself with something and hung up.

A police spokesperson said "We decided to force an entry into the house because we were worried for the man's safety.

"But as our officers went in he shot himself in the head with the crossbow."