'Safety first' for armed officers

Police seek to contain the situation, said Mr Flowers

Public safety would have been the priority for police called to a reported firearms incident in Glasgow, according to a leading officer.

Norrie Flowers, Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said the "last thing on anyone's mind is to shoot".

He said officers always try to contain the situation and disarm suspects.

The BBC has learned that the man seriously hurt in the incident in the Gorbals may not have been armed.

An investigation has been launched into the shooting on Thursday evening.

Mr Flowers, an inspector and experienced firearms officer, told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that rigorous procedures are followed when a report of an armed incident is received.

He said: "The first thing that would happen is that an assessment of that report would have to be made to find out what kind of credibility is in the report.

'Give themselves up'

"The primary responsibility of the police then is public safety.

"Therefore, if there is a suspicion or there's a report of a firearm actually in the public domain and somebody's carrying one then there has to be a response from the police for public safety."

Once the highly trained firearms officers have arrived at the scene, said Mr Flowers, they must "contain the situation".

He said: "The last thing they want to do is fire that weapon. So they will have to contain that situation and try and get the individual who is carrying the weapon to either put it down, dispose of it or give themselves up.

"The last thing on anyone's mind is to shoot anyone."

If for whatever reason the threat is raised by that individual the firearms officers usually have no other alternative Norrie Flowers SPF chairman

In terms of warnings issued to suspects, Mr Flowers said situations differ and officers must make a judgment based on circumstances at the time.

He said: "They would obviously shout and tell the individual as armed police officers and if they suspect there's a gun there they will shout at the individual to put that gun down.

"If for whatever reason the threat is raised by that individual the firearms officers usually have no other alternative."

Mr Flowers said every officer is accountable and a thorough investigation is carried out into why a weapon has been fired with a report sent to the procurator fiscal.

He said: "I would say as a serving police officer, any incident that is reported to police has to be investigated by either the home force or another force and the scrutiny is incredible.

"The procurator will not accept any report that is not full and factual."