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Several eyewitnesses said the man was running from the police. Under ordinary circumstances, and if that was all he had done, that probably wouldn't justify the use of deadly force by the police. But the circumstances weren't ordinary and that doesn't appear to be all that he did.

There's a certain level of intelligence and awareness required to continue living. Was he completely clueless as to what was going on around him? If so, he lost his life out of sheer stupidity. Nature doesn't owe any organism a living; either an organism uses its faculties to help it survive (uh, when the police order you to stop a day after several terrorist attacks, stop!) or else it gets dispatched into the wastebin of history.

Scotland yard has just apologised for shooting an innocent man, apparently a Brazilian. This is going to be a test of moral courage, not a good time to have a cock-up like this.

snarks_when_bored said: "Was he completely clueless as to what was going on around him? "

I believe that the terrorists will consider it a success if the public believes that all Muslims are their enemies. (I haven't come to that conclusion myself.)

If they accomplish this, then there will be many more "vigilante" efforts directed at mosques, muslims, "Asians" of various stripes, and immigrants both legal and illegal.

When that time comes, it will no longer be a mystery why such a person would run from non-uniformed men chasing after them. So far, this incident is a potential victory for the terrorists and holds little potential for aiding in the War on Terror.

If the authorities, for example, only expect to correctly identify bombers fifty-percent of the time, that would mean that half of their killings would lack justification, at least by prior standards. Such performance will not be acceptable.