Posted on 07/23/2005 1:15:20 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Police admitted on Saturday they had shot dead the wrong man in a tragic error as they combed London for four men after attempted bomb attacks on the capital's transport system.
Plainclothes police chased the man onto an underground train on Friday after he ignored warnings to stop, shooting him five times in the head because they feared he was carrying a bomb and was going to detonate it.
"We are now satisfied that he was not connected with the incidents of Thursday 21st July 2005," police said on Saturday.
"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."
Thursday's failed attacks on three underground trains and a bus killed no one, but caused chaos just two weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 London commuters.
The Abu Hafs al Masri Brigade, an al Qaeda-linked group, has claimed responsibility for Thursday's bombing attempts and those of July 7, but the group's claims of responsibility for previous attacks in Europe have been discredited by security experts.
Police also carried out arrests and staged raids to prevent possible future attacks and to find the four men suspected of Thursday's failed bombings.
Muslim groups condemned the killing and expressed shock at the news of the victim's innocence.
"To give license to people to shoot to kill just like that, on the basis of suspicion, is very frightening," Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain told BBC television.
"It is human lives that are being targeted here, whether by terrorists or in this case unfortunately by people who are supposed to be chasing or catching the terrorists."
HASH(0x373ab0)
SHOCKED PASSENGERS
Human rights activists said police were in an impossible position, with split seconds to take a life or death decision, but insisted on a full and independent inquiry.
The killing in front of shocked passengers on a packed underground train triggered speculation that traditionally unarmed British police had adopted a shoot-to-kill policy. Police were questioning two men were held after raids late on Friday in the Stockwell area of south London close to the site of one of Thursday's failed bombs on three underground trains and a bus -- the same targets as the July 7 bombs.
Later on Saturday armed police raided a house in the Brixton area of south London within walking distance of Stockwell.
It was at Brixton mosque that Richard Reid -- dubbed the shoe bomber for his failed attempt in December 2001 to blow up an airliner with explosives in his trainers -- worshipped.
Police released closed circuit television pictures of the four suspects and appealed for the public to help find them, but warned that they were dangerous and not to be approached.
One day after the pictures were released police said they had received nearly 500 calls and 80 emails from the public.
The killing of the man took Britain's fight against terrorism to a new level of force in a country where only specialist officers carry weapons and killings by police are very rare.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said the duty of the police was to protect the public against people considered to be terrorist suspects.
INVESTIGATION PLANNED
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was investigating the killing, as it did all fatal police shootings.
Analysts said police were operating under secret new guidelines, codenamed Operation Kratos, allowing them to aim for the head if they believe there was a threat to the public.
"Simple nervous system shut-down, that is the objective," anti-terrorism expert Robert Ayers of the Royal Institute of International Affairs think-tank told Reuters.
The July 7 attacks killed 52 people and injured 700 in the worst peacetime attacks in the city's history. But on Thursday the devices failed to go off properly.
Because of that, police have more clues than after July 7, including the bombs, eye witness reports and CCTV footage.
But security experts and the former head of London's police warned the attacks could continue. Livingstone cautioned so-called soft targets could also be at risk.
"People may be worried now about going on the tube, but it is quite likely the next attack will be in a pub or club or simply on a crowded street," he told Sky News television as Italian soccer club Inter Milan canceled a planned tour.
London's police chief Ian Blair said on Friday his force faced "the greatest operational challenge" in its history.
Police refused to say if the men in custody were among the four suspects pictured in the photographs. (Additional reporting by Gideon Long, Peter Griffiths and Quentin Webb)
Perhaps the guy worked for the terrorists as a plant knowing that the cops would shoot anyone dumb enough to wear a coat in 75-degree weather. Regardless, the guy deserves a Darwin Award in the very least.
i suspect many heads will roll in the forthcoming "p.r." campaign to gain approval back from the public. at least thats what happens here
I dispute the presumption that they shot the "wrong" man. When ordered to stop under a state of national siege the idot had it comming. I believe that he must have been up to something in order to have run, but either way it must be natures way of pruning the ranks based on survival of the fittest. Maybe next time others will adhere to the policy of police security inspections.
No Loss.
When the police conference got delayed and delayed, I had a feeling this was not the shoot they thought it was.
They sure were. If this guy, dressed in a heavy coat and running from police into a crowded subway car, actually had a bomb and detonated it, these same people would be condemning the police for not having stopped him.
My concern is how this affects our security procedures
Dying to get to his 72 virgins?
Nope. Information thus far indicates he was a Brazilian citizen.
And for those going on about the coat - remember this is England, and from what I've read, it was in the low 60s on that day.
-SV
I heard on BBC News just now that he was a Brazilian. I think most pepole in the UK will say 'Oh well... he shouldn't have run'
RUT RO!
Lets see. The guy emerged from a house that was under surveilance, then ran and jumped an Underground turnstile, wearing a heavy coat during a heatwave and onto a train.
The real question is why the press leaves out those details.
Exactly my thoughts. Decoy.
Something about this doesn't seem quite right to me.
Hey!
Great minds think alike!
;-)
Considering the current situation over there, it was a fatal mistake.
IMHO....I don't believe this 'gambit'....
In MHO,....British police admit shooting the 'right' man in bomb hunt,....at the wrong time?
Yep,....smoke clearing.....now
/ACLU in Britain ploy.....
Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police:
I can say that as part of the operations linked to yesterday's incidents, Metropolitan police officers have shot a man inside Stockwell underground station. It happened at approximately 10 o'clock this morning.
Both London Ambulance service and the Air Ambulance attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene and I understand that Stockwell tube station remains closed.
The information I have available is that this shooting is directly linked to the on-going and expanding anti-terrorist operation. I need to make clear that any death is deeply regretable, but as I understand the situation, the man was challenged and refused to obey police instructions.
I can't go any further at this stage and I'm now going to hand over to Andy Hayman."
Statement by the Metropolitan Police about the shooting at Stockwell station
"The man shot at Stockwell station is still subject to formal identification and it is not yet clear whether he is one of the four people we are seeking to identify and whose pictures have been released today. It therefore remains extremely important that members of the public continue to assist police in relation to all four pictures.
"This death, like all deaths related to police operations, is obviously a matter of deep regret. Nevertheless the man who was shot was under police observation because he had emerged from a house that was itself under observation because it was linked to the investigation of yesterday’s incidents.
"He was then followed by surveillance officers to the station. His clothing and his behaviour at the station added to their suspicions. While the counter terrorist investigation will obviously take pre-eminence, the investigation into the circumstances that led to his death is being pursued and will be subject to scrutiny through the IPCC in due course."
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