Six police officers fired 13 shots while trying to arrest an armed robbery suspect on the Clapton Park estate on Tuesday night, leaving a 21-year-old man in critical condition.

Officers were called to an armed robbery of a vehicle in Hackney at 10.50pm and then found evidence linking it to a property in Mandeville Street.

Armed police went to the address, where six officers fired 13 times before recovering a gun. It is not known how many times the man was shot but he was taken to hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the shooting, after being called at 3.20am yesterday. An IOPC spokesman said officers had met with the man’s parents.

IOPC regional director Jonathan Green said: “A young man is in hospital in a critical condition and my thoughts go to all those affected by this incident.

“Our investigators have been at the scene overnight and throughout today carefully overseeing the collection of forensic evidence and have attended post incident procedures where key witness accounts from officers were provided.

“We have also been provided with a large amount of body worn video footage some of which we have viewed and we will continue to do so over coming days to establish the sequence of events which culminated in this serious incident.

“We have been able to verify that six officers discharged their weapons a total of 13 times during the incident and can confirm that a non-police issue firearm was recovered from the scene.

“We will be conducting a robust independent investigation to find out the circumstances leading up to the firing of the weapons and the actions of officers immediately afterwards.”

A Met spokesman said yesterday: “The Directorate of Professional Standards have been informed and the incident referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, who have launched an independent investigation.”

No arrests have been made.