Plainclothes police chased the man into an underground train station on Friday after he ignored warnings to stop. As the man boarded a train, police shot him five times at point-blank range fearing he was about to set off a bomb.
"We are now satisfied that he was not connected with the incidents of Thursday 21st July 2005," police said on Saturday.
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.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said the duty of the police was to protect the public against people considered to be terrorist suspects, and police said they had followed the man they shot from a house under surveillance and who had run when challenged.
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," said anti-terrorism expert Robert Ayers of the Royal Institute of International Affairs think-tank told Reuters.
Witnesses told of plain-clothes police pursuing a suspect on to a subway train carriage. He slipped as he ran and then was repeatedly shot at point-blank range as he lay on the floor.
London's police chief Ian Blair said on Friday his force faced "the greatest operational challenge" in its history.*
~*An 'A' for effort but barely passing in execution(s)?
An e-mail friend reminds us: "Accidents will happen, when cops are instructed to kill first, ask questions later."
(Cieciel again) So Al Qaeda has forced Blair to adopt American-style policing? USA cops accidentally kill innocent people or 'suspects' so often that it's no longer shocking. I wonder how long it will take until the British press plays-down these accidents just like their American counterparts? The Brits are fast learners.
Posted by Cieciel at July 24, 2005 01:44 AM