Chris Kaba: Met Police officer who fired fatal shot has not been questioned under caution

The Met Police officer who shot dead the unarmed black man Chris Kaba has still not been questioned under caution, it emerged today.

The family of 24-year-old Mr Kaba, who was shot in south London four weeks ago on September 5, have called for all officers who were present at the time to be questioned.

They want a decision on whether the officer who shot him - named only as NX121 at the opening of an inquest today (Tuesday, October 4) - should be charged with murder to be made as soon as possible.

Mr Kaba, a rapper and construction worker, was fatally wounded following a police car chase which ended on a narrow residential street in Streatham.

An inquest into his death was opened and adjourned at a brief hearing this morning at Inner South London Coroner’s Court.

The dad-to-be was driving someone else’s car which police records had flagged up as being involved in a previous firearms incident.

He was at the wheel of an Audi which was hemmed in by two police cars on Kirkstall Gardens before one bullet was fired from a police weapon.

Witnesses said Mr Kaba tried to ram his way free before being shot.

The officer who shot Mr Kaba, who has not been named, was suspended from duty seven days later.

Investigator Dean Brown, of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), told the hearing: “On Monday, September 5, Mr Chris Kaba was driving an Audi motor vehicle in south London.

“The Audi Mr Kaba was driving was believed to be linked to a firearms incident which took place the previous day and an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) marker had been placed upon it.

“A briefing was provided to officers prior to their shift on September 5 in which the Audi was brought to their attention as being potentially associated with the firearms incident the previous day. Mr Kaba’s name was not included in this briefing.

“According to police logs and accounts received to date by officers, the Audi was recognised by officers parked at the side of the A202 in Camberwell Green in an unmarked armed response vehicle (ARV).

“The officers then started to follow the vehicle and circulated this via police airwaves at around 9.52pm. Officers continued to follow the Audi until 10.07pm.

“The officers did not activate their lights or sirens while following the vehicle. The intention was to use an ‘enforced stop extraction’ on the Audi.

“At around 10.07pm, Mr Kaba made a left turn from New Park Road onto Kirkstall Gardens. Already present on Kirkstall Gardens was a marked police armed response vehicle.

“The marked ARV had parked on Kirkstall Gardens with the intention of joining the other police vehicles behind the Audi once it had passed the junction.

“One of the officers inside the marked ARV was NX121. Once Mr Kaba made the left turn the decision was taken to perform an ‘inline extraction’.

“Armed officers exited their vehicles and approached the Audi. The evidence suggests that contact was made between the Audi driven by Mr Kaba and the police vehicles.

“The evidence further suggests that officer NX121 was standing to the front of Mr Kaba’s vehicle.

“A single shot was fired by officer NX121 piercing the front windscreen of the vehicle Mr Kaba was driving and struck him.”

Officers at the scene gave him first aid and he was rushed to Kings College Hospital in Camberwell but was pronounced dead at 12.12am.

Mr Brown added that “substantial progress” has been made in the investigation and that it is expected to take six to nine months.

Senior coroner Andrew Harris adjourned the inquest to a new date which has not been set.

Chris’s mother Helen Nkama, father Prosper Kaba, his uncle and his cousin Jefferson Bosela attended the hearing.

His mother wept after his cousin, who has acted as a family spokesperson, made a statement to reporters after the hearing.

Mr Bosela said: "Today’s hearing was another step in achieving justice for Chris.

“Tomorrow marks exactly one month since Chris was shot dead by a police officer while sitting, unarmed, in a car.

“Ever since that terrible moment my family, and everyone that knew him are asking one question: why?

“A month on, and we are still very far from getting a proper answer. But there is something else we want to know, which is just as important: who will be held accountable for his death?

“I am Chris’s cousin and today, we are here - as a family - because we want answers to both of those questions.

“We need answers. Not just this family, but the whole of London – the whole of the country - needs to know how something like this could occur?

“How can a young man, sitting in a car, unarmed, be shot in the head by police in London in 2022?

“This should never have happened. It must never happen again. We must never accept this as normal. Someone must be held accountable.

“We are glad this matter is being investigated by the IOPC as a homicide investigation and we hope this will lead to prosecutions.

“But we are alarmed at what we have been told about how long this is expected to take.

“We do not accept that this process should take longer than other murder investigations, merely because the person who killed Chris is a police officer.

“We have been told that after nearly a month, neither the officer who killed Chris nor any of the other officers involved have been interviewed under caution.

“A CPS charging decision needs to happen urgently. This should not take months and months. The evidence they need to make that decision should be available within weeks.

“An urgent decision on criminal charges is critical for this family, and many others, to have faith in the system that is supposed to bring them justice.

“The family needs to be kept up to date with the investigation. While we have had positive communications with the IOPC, at times our family has had to chase the IOPC for information or push them to do what they should be doing already.

“The best way for the family to have confidence in the process, is for the family to be kept closely informed at every stage.

“We know there are many, many people who are as concerned about what happened to Chris as his family and friends are.

“For many of them, Chris could have been their son, their brother, their cousin, their friend.

“In communities across London, what happened to Chris feels very personal. They understand and feel the pain our family is going through.

“The family thanks everyone who has supported the justice campaign. That support has been so important – and it shows that what happened to Chris is something that thousands of people feel is unacceptable.

“We also ask that anyone that has any information – people who may have seen something or may have video that was taken on a camera or a phone – please contact our lawyers and provide it to us or contact the IOPC and provide it to them.

“We want to ensure that we have as much evidence as possible, so that we have the best chance of ensuring justice is done.

“My cousin Chris was very much loved by us. His loss is with us every day.

“He had a bright future ahead of him – his first child was about to be born. That his life was cut short by a police officer is a tragedy.

“We will not rest until the people responsible for Chris’ death are held fully accountable."