Police said a woman was hospitalised with critical injuries after being held hostage at her Kent home. Locals reported hearing gunshots when armed cops stormed into a Dartford-terraced property.

Officers responded to a property in Priory Road with a trained negotiator at 12.40pm on Saturday after receiving complaints of a “disturbance.”

Witnesses reported how police roped off the road and forced everyone to stay inside their homes before breaking down the front door and entering the property. After an hour-long standoff, “pandemonium” erupted, and neighbours reported hearing what sounded like two rounds of gunshots.

A man and a woman were brought to a London hospital with significant injuries from a shotgun according to Kent Police. The residence was still sealed off, and forensics teams were seen entering late Saturday evening.

According to witnesses who live nearby, the woman was “held hostage” by a man in the back of the property. The scene was characterised as “chilling” by one woman who did not want to be identified.

I was in the house, and my husband and two daughters were out – they couldn’t get back home,” she explained. I walked outside and was instructed to return because I needed to stay inside. I walked to the garden to see what else was there.”

In a statement issued this morning, from Kent Police they say

Kent Police was called to a report of a disturbance at a property in Priory Road, Dartford at 12.40pm on Saturday 6 May 2023.

Officers, along with a trained police negotiator, attended and attempted to engage with a man inside the address. Whilst they were at the scene, a man and a woman suffered serious injuries consistent with gunshot wounds and were taken to a London hospital where they remain in serious condition.

Police are treating this as an isolated incident and are not looking for anyone else in connection with it. Patrols remain in the area and enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances and how the injuries were sustained.

Due to police being at the scene at the time of the injuries, a mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.