A man shot dead by police marksmen in a suburban street in north-west London was named today.

Azelle Rodney, 24, was in the back seat of a silver Volkswagen Golf, which was surrounded by unmarked police cars in Hale Lane, Edgware, north west London, at 8pm on Saturday night.

Police said he was seen holding a gun and trained firearms officers opened fire in a pre-planned operation. Witnesses described how police fired six shots into the car before dragging the man out and trying to resuscitate him.

Two other men who were in the car were arrested and appeared in court today on firearms charges.

Wesley Elijah Lovell, 26, of Cheesemans Terrace, West Kensington, and Frank Cofi Graham, 23, of Clem Attlee Court, Fulham, each faced four charges.

The first alleged that they were in possession of a Colt self-loading pistol and blank and gas-fired convertible weapons with intent to endanger life.

A second charge said they were in possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life, a third that they had a blank Rika pistol with intent to endanger life and a fourth charge that they had a blank key fob-style firearm with intent to endanger life.

Prosecutor Tokes Adesuyan named Mr Rodney in the hearing at Horseferry Road Magistrates’ Court in London.

At the mention of Mr Rodney being fatally injured, Lovell, dreadlocked and wearing a grey T-shirt, shook his head and sighed loudly.

There were no applications for bail and their case was adjourned until May 9 when they will appear at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court in London.

Police stopped a car containing three men in an operation by the Specialist Crime Directorate and SO19, the firearms unit, on Saturday.

Yesterday the area was sealed off and the incident was being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Forensic science officers examined a car which was taken away.

Ian Bynoe, of the commission, said: "The IPCC will investigate the circumstances leading to the use of armed officers, together with the justification for shots to be fired."

Mr Rodney was 24 and lived in west London, the IPCC said. An inquest is expected to open at Hornsey Coroner’s Court in London on Thursday.

Elsewhere in London, police were called to a shooting in Wood Green on Saturday night. The victim, 22, was taken to hospital but died. It is thought that five or six youths surrounded a silver car that he was in and shot him. A third man was shot in a Wimbledon nightclub early yesterday. Police arrested two men, aged 28 and 19. The victim, 21, was in a serious condition in hospital.

Near Leicester Square a man in his twenties was savagely attacked by a gang early yesterday. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. A number of people were arrested.

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