COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Police statement on twitter -

BREAKING: We're dealing with an incident in #Broadgate, #Coventry city centre. Reports of a man discharging a firearm from a flat window. Casings recovered suggest it's a blank firing pistol. Armed police on scene. No injuries reported. Cordons in place. More to follow

We have arrested a man in his 20s on suspicion of possession of an imitation firearm.

Student charged over city centre 'shooting' lockdown

A student has been charged with a firearms offence after he allegedly shot a blank-firing pistol causing a lockdown in Coventry city centre.

Xinge Zhang, 22, from Jiangxi, China, will face a charge of possession of an imitation firearm with the intent to cause fear of unlawful violence when he appears before magistrates in the city.

The University of Warwick student was arrested on Tuesday following reports of shots being fired in Broadgate which prompted a large armed police response.

Shoppers and diners were evacuated from the area for a period of time while the incident was investigated.

West Midlands Police said in a statement this morning the student had now been charged over the incident which they called a 'blank-firing pistol stunt'.

The statement said: "It’s alleged Warwick University undergraduate Xinge Zhang fired the imitation weapon numerous times from the Mercia Lodge student accommodation in Broadgate on Tuesday evening (3 Dec).

"The 22-year-old − from Jiangxi in China − has been charged with possessing an imitation firearm with the intent to cause fear of unlawful violence.

"He remains in police custody this morning and is set to appear at Coventry Magistrates Court later today.

"No-one was injured during the incident which saw armed police deployed to the scene at around 6pm as a precaution to protect the public."