A Metropolitan police officer is being investigated for homicide after a young man was shot in south London this week.
Chris Kaba, who lived in Wembley but whose parents live in West Dulwich, died after being shot by a police officer in Streatham Hill on Monday night (September 5) after they stopped the car he was driving.
Police watchdog the independent office for police conduct (IOPC) found in their investigation that no non-police gun had been found at the scene.
Assistant Met Police commissioner Amanda Pearson said in a statement on Friday night: “The Independent Office for Police Conduct have announced that a firearms officer is now subject to a homicide investigation.
“My thoughts and sympathies remain with Mr Kaba’s friends and family with this news. I also know how concerned our communities are and how they will also be affected by this significant update. We share their concern.
“The Met is co-operating fully as the IOPC work to independently establish the full circumstances surrounding the shooting.”
The car that Mr Kaba, 24, was driving triggered the police’s licence plate recognition system, after it was involved in a firearms incident a few days before. The car was not registered to Mr Kaba.
The devastated family of father-to-be publicly called for a criminal investigation.
His mother said: “My heart is broken, I am speechless, my heart is broken. People have taken Chris from me, I don’t know how to say, but I need justice to be done for Chris, criminal justice.”
Activists have organised a march on Saturday at midday from Parliament Square a few hundred metres to Scotland Yard, to protest Mr Kaba’s killing.
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AC Pearson added: “I absolutely understand that this shooting is a matter of grave concern, particularly for our black communities.
“I also know what a difficult and often dangerous job firearms officers in particular do every day to try to protect the public. They understand and expect that on the very rare occasions they discharge their weapons they will face intense scrutiny. I don’t underestimate the impact on them of this development.
“I’d urge the public to allow the IOPC the time and space needed to progress the investigation.”
The investigation being launched does not mean that the firearms officer will necessarily be charged with a crime.