LONDON — Authorities in London have launched an urgent probe into how five armed security officers assigned to protect the city’s mayor accidentally abandoned a bag filled with weapons near his residence.
The Metropolitan Police announced Friday evening that the officers involved have been pulled from active duty pending a full investigation into the incident.
According to reports from The Sun, the abandoned bag contained multiple weapons including a Heckler & Koch MP5 semiautomatic carbine, a Glock handgun, a Taser device, and various ammunition. A local couple discovered the cache on a street in south London this past Tuesday and immediately alerted police.
Jordan Griffiths, who works in construction, explained to the newspaper that his girlfriend initially spotted the bag near the curb. He described feeling stunned when they opened it and realized what they had found.
“I could not believe my eyes and took some pictures as proof of what we had found,” Griffiths stated. “I called the police and told them what I had found and within a few minutes they turned up to collect the guns.”
The Metropolitan Police’s Directorate of Professional Standards has taken over the investigation and confirmed that all five officers have been temporarily removed from field assignments.
“We are urgently reviewing the circumstances of this incident and recognize the concern it may cause,” officials said in their statement. “At this stage it is believed the bag was misplaced by on-duty officers a short time before the member of the public located it.”
A representative for Mayor Khan emphasized that law enforcement “must now take all steps to ensure an incident like this never occurs again.”
