LONDON, ENGLAND-Violence has continued to escalate and has now spread to four cities in England. Unrest has made itself known in Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol, spreading there from London in the days since the shooting of Mark Duggan. 16,000 police officers have been called out to try and quell the violence.

The largest riots in England’s modern history had its beginnings at a peaceful vigil for the slain 29 year-old father of four, Mark Duggan on Saturday.

Duggan, who had been a passenger in a minicab, was stopped by

members of Scotland Yard’s Operation Trident unit. During the detainment, shots rang out and after the brief episode, Duggan lay dead. Officers involved in the incident claimed Duggan made a movement as though he was going for a gun. One officer had a bullet lodged in his radio, it was later found that the embedded bullet taken from the radio came from one of the machine guns carried by the police. A gun was also found at the scene, but investigators found it to be un-fired.

Witnesses to the incident say that the young man was initially injured by a bullet to the arm during the conflict, and was shot in the chest as he lay on the ground with officers around him. Police say that Duggan was a member of the Star gang, but gang members as well as friends and family say that this isn’t so. Scotland Yard has now declined to comment on Duggan’s criminal history.

The violence that has engulfed England began on Saturday when a teen-aged protester and a police officer had a confrontation. Soon, bottles were being thrown at two patrol cars that were later lit ablaze. Within 25 minutes, there were 49 fires reported to the fire brigades, as what had now become rioters burned buildings, buses and cars.

Sunday, the violence continued during the later hours of the day as windows were smashed and police vehicles were vandalized. But, the violence would begin to escalate as news broke that the bullet lodged in the officers radio came from one of the officers own sub-machine gun.

By Monday, rioting and looting had broke out in all corners of the city. The Mayor of the city, Boris Johnson, cut short his family holiday to deal with the increasing situation. Within hours, the Prime Minister ended his holiday and returned to England because of the worsening conditions. Two hours later, Labour Leader Ed Miliband followed suit and announced his return to London.

By the early hours of Tuesday morning, police in four other cities reported incidences of fires in their areas. So far, 111 police officers have been injured in the turmoil and over 500 rioters have been detained. Reports are now saying the people being detained are being housed in different areas as London’s jails are now full.