The dramatic operation was captured on camera

A group of young men who were filmed being bundled out of a car at gunpoint by armed police were released a short time later without being arrested.

Officers swamped the car in Queen’s Crescent at around 9pm on Thursday and forced the driver and passengers to the floor, following a shooting earlier that evening in Kentish Town.

Police confirmed today (Monday) none of the men in the video, who were “detained for the purposes of a search”, were arrested. The car was “found to be satisfactory” following a search, police said.

The New Journal has been provided with footage of the police operation, believed to have involved the controversial tactic known as a “hard stop”, which took place in front of stunned shoppers.

With guns trained on the men, police yelled: “Get on the floor now. Keep your hands still. Do not move your hands.”

Armed officers were patrolling the area amid heightened tensions following a shooting in Carters Close, off Torriano Avenue, at around 7:30pm. No one is believed to have been injured in the gun attack.

A neighbour told the New Journal: “A boy came on to the estate with a gun and fired at a group of people stood by a wall.”

Another said: “I was scared. I heard maybe five bangs, they were really loud. My mum said they were fireworks, but I couldn’t see anything in the sky.”

Police remained at the scene of the shooting throughout Friday, carrying out a finger-tip search of the carpark.

Officers from the Met’s gang crime unit, Trident, are investigating.