The PSNI opened fire in Belfast tonight as they tried to make an arrest during their investigation into a double murder in Belfast.
Up to six shots were discharged after a man abandoned a car in the city's northern Ardoyne district.
There were no injuries and no arrests were made during the incident.
PSNI officers were in the area carrying out follow-up inquiries after the body of taxi driver Joey Jones was found bludgeoned to death in a nearby alleyway on Monday morning.
Mr Jones, 38, was one of two men murdered as part of a suspected feud involving dissident republicans. Hours earlier, Eddie Burns, 36, and from Ardoyne, was found shot dead near a Gaelic Athletic Association club in west Belfast.
A third man was taken to hospital with bullet wounds in what police believe was an attack connected to the two killings.
Gerry Kelly, Sinn Fein Assembly man for North Belfast, hit out at the police decision to open fire tonight, claiming the incident was unconnected to the murders.
As investigators from the Police Ombudsman's office began a probe into the incident, Mr Kelly said: "Let me emphasise people were in shock around here.
"A crowd came out on the street because of what has happened in the last few days. "There's no connection to it. I'm told locally that this is just somebody from the area and that the car may be a runabout (stolen vehicle), but the PSNI opened up and they shouldn't have done it."
A spokesman for the PSNI confirmed it was connected to the wider investigation. He said: "The incident occurred as police were carrying out follow-up inquiries in relation to the ongoing murder investigations and were attempting to make an arrest."
Meanwhile, four guns were seized during searches by police in north Belfast tonight. The weapons were recovered in the Cliftonville area during a planned operation against serious crime in the area, police said. The guns, and with other items seized, were taken away for forensic examination.