London: An armed man was shot and killed by police after he pulled a gun on them and refused to stop his car near the Heathrow airport, police sources said.

A police spokeswoman said they were treating it as a criminal incident and not a potential terrorist attack.

"There was a firearms incident. A white man was wounded who later succumbed to his injuries," the spokeswoman said.

Scotland Yard sources said the man pointed a gun at officers after a police patrol near the airport stopped the vehicle on June 6 evening. Shots were fired and the man was fatally injured.

The sources said the man had been spotted by a police dog handler who was routinely observing passing traffic near the British Airways training building. He tried to flag down the driver, but he refused to stop and pulled out a gun.

The dog handler called for armed assistance and officers from Heathrow Police arrived at the scene. They got out of heir vehicle to be confronted by the armed man.

A police spokesman said first aid was administered at the spot but the man was pronounced dead before he could be shifted to hospital.

Police said the man had not yet been identified.

Commander Phil Gormley, leading a metropolitan police investigation into the incident, said a weapon had been recovered from the scene and the man was alone in the car.

PTI