Rioting has spread to a number of British towns following three days of unrest in the capital London. At least four people have died since Monday, one person shot to death and three others struck by a car. More than 1,000 people have been arrested. British authorities have flooded the streets of London with 16,000 police officers, the largest police presence in the city’s history. British Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled Parliament from its summer recess to address the unrest. Touring a damaged neighborhood, London Mayor Boris Johnson rejected attempts to link the riots to poverty and racism.

Boris Johnson: “It’s time we stop hearing all this, you know, nonsense about how there are deep sociological justifications for wanton criminality and destruction of people’s property. Whatever people’s grievances may be, it does not justify smashing up someone’s shop, wrecking their livelihood, and kicking them out of a job. That is not the way to behave. That’s not the way to have an economic recovery in this city.”

Meanwhile, a police inquiry has found that Mark Duggan, the 29-year-old black man whose killing triggered the riots, did not fire on police officers before they shot him to death.