Metropolitan Police launch a "major investigation" into the riot in Tottenham ~ Jakarta Forum

London riot update: Metropolitan Police launch a "major investigation" into the riot in Tottenham

The Metropolitan Police has launched a "major investigation" into the riot in Tottenham which saw attacks on people, fires and looting.

Officers on the inquiry, codenamed Operation Withern, will interview witnesses and review hours of CCTV in a bid to identify rioters.

Forty-eight people arrested during the disorder are being questioned.

The violence erupted on Saturday night and Sunday morning following a protest over the fatal shooting of a local man.

Shops were attacked and looted, 26 police officers and three others hurt and buildings and vehicles were set ablaze.

Police have warned against what they described as "ill-informed speculation" about more riots in other parts of London on Sunday evening.

'Rocked the heart'
Parts of Tottenham are still cordoned off, as what the Met described as "a slow and painstaking" examination of the riot scene is conducted by officers and forensic teams.

The inquiry, led by Det Supt John Sweeney, is made up of detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, specialist investigators from the Public Order Branch, and police support staff.

The Metropolitan Police has launched a "major investigation" into the riot in Tottenham which saw attacks on people, fires and looting.

Officers on the inquiry, codenamed Operation Withern, will interview witnesses and review hours of CCTV in a bid to identify rioters.

Forty-eight people arrested during the disorder are being questioned.

The violence erupted on Saturday night and Sunday morning following a protest over the fatal shooting of a local man.

Shops were attacked and looted, 26 police officers and three others hurt and buildings and vehicles were set ablaze.

Police have warned against what they described as "ill-informed speculation" about more riots in other parts of London on Sunday evening.

'Rocked the heart'
Parts of Tottenham are still cordoned off, as what the Met described as "a slow and painstaking" examination of the riot scene is conducted by officers and forensic teams.

The inquiry, led by Det Supt John Sweeney, is made up of detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, specialist investigators from the Public Order Branch, and police support staff.

He said the force was "actively posting accurate information to correct this".

Twenty-six officers and three others were hurt in the violence which broke out after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of 29-year-old Mark Duggan on Thursday.

During the riot people threw petrol bombs, reducing many buildings and vehicles to charred wrecks.

Shops and homes were raided and cash machines ripped out in Tottenham.

A double-decker bus, two police cars and a carpet shop were among the vehicles and buildings destroyed.

Crowds of looters broke shop windows in a retail park near Tottenham Hale tube station.

The front window of Currys electrical store was smashed and the door of Argos was shattered after looters raided the stock room.

Every handset was stolen from a mobile phone store.

Teenagers and adults were said to have turned up in cars to Tottenham's retail park and filled their boots with stolen items, unimpeded by police.

Others arrived on foot and piled shopping trolleys high with looted electronic goods, a local woman, who did not want to be named, said.

Shops including Vision Express, the Body Shop and Boots, in nearby Wood Green's High Street were also raided. Two cars there were burnt out.

Politicians have been reacting to the disorder throughout the day.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said he had full confidence in the police and that London remained one of the safest cities in the world.
Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy described it as an "attack on shopkeepers, women and children".
Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone thanked police officers "who put themselves in harm's way" and said anyone intent on causing harm would face the full force of the law.
London's deputy mayor Kit Malthouse said: "It's absolutely outrageous to see it on the streets of London. We'll do as much as we can to ensure there's no recurrence tonight."
The Reverend Nims Obunge, Pastor at the Freedom's Ark Church, in Tottenham, said: "It is right that this community should have questions they have answered."
Those arrested remain in custody for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft.

Meanwhile, the family of Mr Duggan said they were "not condoning" the violence that erupted.

"Please don't make this about my brother's life, he was a good man," his brother Shaun Hall said.

BBC crime reporter Ben Ando said there were rumours in the community that a teenage girl who was part of the peaceful protest had been in a kind of confrontation with police.

He said: "That appears to be the flashpoint. That was the moment at around about just after eight o'clock when it seemed that elements in the crowd decided to pick on two police cars. They were then set on fire."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating Thursday's shooting.

A police officer was also shot in the incident, which happened in what was called a "pre-planned" event, under Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime in the African and Caribbean communities.