Training Exercise By London Police Involving Fake Gunman Causes Twitter Panic

A London police training exercise caused a panic Wednesday as users of the social network Twitter misunderstood a training scenario and began tweeting that a gunman was on the loose in a busy shopping area, News.com.au reports.

Users frantically posted the message: “PLEASE RETWEET - GUNMAN on LOOSE on OXFORD STREET - LONDON W1. There has been a shooting and police are on the scene. STAY INSIDE.”

In response to the confusion, London’s Metropolitan Police Service was forced to issue a statement confirming the misunderstanding on Oxford St.

“It would appear that some information about a routine police training exercise being held today has inadvertently got into the public domain,” the statement read. “As part of that exercise, participants have been given a hypothetical written scenario which involved an armed incident on Oxford Street. We would like to reaffirm that this is a training exercise only."