British police admit shooting wrong man

[Said1]

British police admit shooting wrong man

Sat Jul 23, 2005 5:05 PM ET


By Matthew Jones and Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - Police admitted on Saturday they had shot dead the wrong man -- a Brazilian electrician -- in a tragic error as they combed London for four men after attempted bomb attacks on the capital's transport system.

The dead man was named as Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old who had lived in London for the past three years. 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.

Late on Saturday police said they had found an abandoned object they believed was similar to Thursday's four bombs.

"An initial examination suggests that the object may be linked to devices found at four locations in London on July 21," police said in a statement, adding it was found in bushes in the Wormwood Scrubbs area of the city.

Asked if that indicated the discovery of a bomb, a police source said: "I wouldn't dissuade you from thinking that."

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. Continued ...

Continued

 

[Gunny]

Guess he shouldn't have run.

 

[Said1]

Guess he shouldn't have run.

Well yeah. Makes you wonder wtf the guy was thinking, given the circumstances.

 

[Gunny]

Well yeah. Makes you wonder wtf the guy was thinking, given the circumstances.

Exactly. If you have nothing to hide, there's no reason to run, unless you just wish to test your skills dodging bullets. Obviously, this guy's skills in that arena sucked.

 

[Annie]

Too bad he's dead, but it's more than just running. Why did he have an oversized warm jacket on in London's warm season, with high humidity? What was he doing in a house under surveillance, if he had NOTHING to do with the bombings? Police identified themselves, then he ran...

 

[Gunny]

Too bad he's dead, but it's more than just running. Why did he have an oversized warm jacket on in London's warm season, with high humidity? What was he doing in a house under surveillance, if he had NOTHING to do with the bombings? Police identified themselves, then he ran...

ITA. The self-centered bunch don't think they should be incovenienced by using common sense; especially, when emotions are running on afterburners. Acting suspiciously can have dire consequences during such times, and right or wrong, this guy is dead becuase his judgement sucked.

 

[Annie]

I just heard that the Brits are not rolling back on the "shoot to kill" order regarding suspected bombers. Hope they can stay with that. Funny thing, the people seem to be backing them, with a 'mistakes can happen in split second decisions.' The police have explained the headshots, since the more common 'chest/abdomen shots' could trigger a bomb.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Any person shot running from the "bobbies" is the right person to get shot.

 

[taff]

A royal ulster constabulary superintendant once told me "Its better to do 12 years than go six feet under".We lived by that rule untill we learned how precious a plastic bullet can be.Then our motto was "If in doubt, give em some plastic".Worked for us.

 

[pegwinn]

Note to self:

Do not live in same building with terrorists.

Do not wear heavy coat in the middle of a heatwave.

Do not run from cops into a subway station shortly after a terrorist attack.

 

[USViking]

I would really like to see some explanation
for why the man ran from the police.

Also, I cannot tell from the news so far
if the police tried to stop him before or
after he entered the subway area.

Explosives are most dangerous in a confined area,
I have always heard.

 

[taff]

Front line troops or police have to base their judgements on combat indicators.Trouble was this man gave off to many indicators that he was a terrorist.I do feel sorry for him and his family but i do not blame the police at all.Just another unfortunate victim of terrorism.

 

[taff]

I would really like to see some explanation
for why the man ran from the police.

Also, I cannot tell from the news so far
if the police tried to stop him before or
after he entered the subway area.

Explosives are most dangerous in a confined area,
I have always heard.

He was challenged by the police on the street outside the station.Instead of answering he ran down an escalator into stockwell station and was shot trying to board a train.

 

[USViking]

He was challenged by the police on the street outside the station.Instead of answering he ran down an escalator into stockwell station and was shot trying to board a train.

Thanks for the information.

Hope we can get some idea why he did what he did.