A man has died in London after accidentally shooting himself while trying to shoot someone down, witnesses have claimed.

Officers were called to Sydenham Road in Lewisham at 3.45pm on Sunday, to reports of suspicious activity in the area. Shots were then heard before a man, believed to be in his 20s, was found with gunshot wounds. He died at the scene just five minutes later.

One woman, 56, living on nearby Venner Road described seeing the man attempt to shoot someone else before being hit by the bullet himself.

She said: “He ended up shooting himself. The bullet bounced off a car window. You can see on the car window where the bullet bounced off it.

“After it happened, the boy he [tried] to shoot stood there filming him.”

The woman said she believed the victim had no parents.

She said: “He’s been there for three hours covered by a sheet. No mum, no dad. It’s really sad.”

A shopkeeper on the nearby high street also said he had heard reports the man shot himself.

He said: “A group of guys were sitting in a car by the bank and a big guy came up to them with a shotgun.”

“They all got out of the car and ran so the guy decided to damage the car with the back of the gun. As he was hitting the windows the gun went off and he shot himself – that’s what we’ve been told.”

Other witnesses said numerous rumours about the shooting were circulating in the local community.

One man said: “We’ve heard three or four different stories – we’ve heard it was a guy on a moped, someone in a car and then that the

 did it to himself.”

Police say there have been no arrests at this stage and enquiries are continuing to take place.

Ellie Reeves, Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge, reacted to the shooting on Twitter, writing: “Shocked and saddened to learn of the fatal shooting in Sydenham this afternoon. My thoughts are with the victim and their family. This violence has no place in our community.”