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First Fatality as London Riots Spread Across Britain (PHOTOS)

As riots continued in London for a third day a 26-year-old man who was shot in a car in Croydon, south London, has died; becoming the first fatality of riots that have now spread across Britain.

According to police, hundreds of protesters and police have been injured in the three days of rioting, with most coming in London.

Police, who are being increasingly criticized for not being able to control the unrest, have said they are considering using non-lethal rubber or plastic bullets to sedate violent rioters, Reuters has reported.

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"That's a tactic that will be used by the Metropolitan police if deemed necessary," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh told reporters.

Police officers wearing riot gear walk past a burning building in Tottenham, north London August 7, 2011. Crowds attacked riot police and set two squad cars alight in north London on Saturday following a protest at the fatal shooting of a man by armed officers earlier in the week.
Police officers wearing riot gear walk past a burning building in Tottenham, north London August 7, 2011. Crowds attacked riot police and set two squad cars alight in north London on Saturday following a protest at the fatal shooting of a man by armed officers earlier in the week. | (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)

 Christian leaders and politicians have held a vigil of hope Monday evening in response to the trouble. Held in Tottenham, where the rioting first began, the ecumenical peace vigil was organized by the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, as well as Pentecostal and independent churches.

The Bishop of Edmonton, the Rt. Rev. Peter Wheatley addressed the vigil saying, “These events cannot be allowed to define the Tottenham we know and love.

“Many of us have worked in this community for many years and we know the loving, generous and openhearted people with whom we share our daily lives are not the rioters who have destroyed so much.”

He added: “What has happened will not conquer the hope which is set before us. We will continue to share that hope with our neighbors and friends as we move to rebuild in Tottenham.”

A police officer stands guard as firefighters work to extinguish the flames of a blazing store in Woolwich, southeast London, August 9, 2011. Rioting and looting spread across and beyond London on Monday as hooded youths set fire to cars and buildings, smashed shop windows and hurled bottles and stones at police in a third night of violence in Britain's worst unrest in decades.
A police officer stands guard as firefighters work to extinguish the flames of a blazing store in Woolwich, southeast London, August 9, 2011. Rioting and looting spread across and beyond London on Monday as hooded youths set fire to cars and buildings, smashed shop windows and hurled bottles and stones at police in a third night of violence in Britain's worst unrest in decades. | (Reuters/Jon Boyle)

 Meanwhile Tottenham MP David Lammy urged people to "get behind" the police in policing the community to help people feel safe. He said: "It's certainly my job to ensure that the Independent Police Complaints Commission move as quickly as they can to establish what happened to Mark Duggan last Thursday.

"I have raised questions about why things were allowed to escalate as quickly as they did over so many hours without proper intervention, I think, by the police."

Cars burn on a street in Ealing, London August 9, 2011. Looting by groups of hooded youths spread to Ealing in west London and Camden in the north of the British capital late on Monday, the third night of violence which police have blamed on criminal thugs.
Cars burn on a street in Ealing, London August 9, 2011. Looting by groups of hooded youths spread to Ealing in west London and Camden in the north of the British capital late on Monday, the third night of violence which police have blamed on criminal thugs. | (Reuters/Toby Melville)

 Mark Duggan was killed by police last Thursday after a shoot-out when his taxi was stopped by officers. A vigil held by his family on Saturday turned violent and sparked the original riots in Tottenham, north London.

However, since then the riots have become much more widespread and commentators are now saying the riots taking place across Britain are not directly related to Duggan’s killing, but stems from a greater feeling of unrest in the nation.

Police officers stand near a burnt out shop in Clapham Junction, in south London August 9, 2011. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would recall parliament from its summer recess for a day on Thursday after rioting swept through London for three consecutive nights.
Police officers stand near a burnt out shop in Clapham Junction, in south London August 9, 2011. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would recall parliament from its summer recess for a day on Thursday after rioting swept through London for three consecutive nights. | (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)

 Reverend Nims Obunge, pastor of the local Freedom's Ark Church, who has been working with Duggan's relatives, said: "It's important that we allow the IPCC to tell us where this investigation's at. It's important we allow them to communicate whatever their findings are with the family.

"It's important that we don't run off with a report, but we make sure that whatever is reported is handled in an accurate and in a way that we can heal ourselves as a community and look for the way forward.

"Justice is important, but we don't know what justice is totally yet."

A woman poses for a photograph as volunteers wait to clear-up after overnight disturbances in Clapham Junction, in south London August 9, 2011. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would recall parliament from its summer recess for a day on Thursday after rioting swept through London for three consecutive nights.
A woman poses for a photograph as volunteers wait to clear-up after overnight disturbances in Clapham Junction, in south London August 9, 2011. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would recall parliament from its summer recess for a day on Thursday after rioting swept through London for three consecutive nights. | (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)

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