Despite being ridiculed for his suggestion that shots were fired inside the London branch of Selfridges last November, pop star Olly Murs has now suggested there was more to the Oxford Circus terror scare than met the eye.
“I ran into an office after being told by the staff of Selfridges that someone was there with a gun,” he told the Sun. “Whether they were shooting into the air or whatever, something happened that day – whether it was covered up, I don’t know.”
Murs was purchasing a present on 24 November 2017 when shoppers began fleeing the area, leading to the deployment of armed police and a section of London’s West End being evacuated. The musician posted several tweets saying that he and other shoppers were hiding in the store’s back office.
Police later said that an altercation between two men inside Oxford Circus tube station just after 4.30pm appeared to have triggered the panic – along with a heightened atmosphere following attacks in London and Manchester. The Met police said there was “no evidence of shots fired or casualties”.
Murs, however, claims that a Selfridges staff member and other customers told him that someone had a gun (Selfridges subsequently tweeted that no incident had taken place). Murs said he continued to receive daily ridicule over his claims. “Well, next time you’re in Selfridges and that happens to you, I’ll message you and say, ‘How was that? How do you feel now? You’re not Mr Brave now, are you?’” said Murs.
“If I’d done it and someone had been shooting, you’d all be sitting here now going, ‘You know what, Olly, you’ve done well.’”
Murs was a judge on the latest series of ITV’s The Voice, which concluded on 8 April with 18-year-old Ruti Olajugbagbe crowned the winner.
