Chris Kaba, 24, was killed on September 5 following a police pursuit of his car which ended in Streatham Hill, south London (PA)
(Picture: PA Media)The family of unarmed black man Chris Kaba who was shot dead by a firearms officer has said that the “world needs to see” the police bodycam footage of the incident.
Mr Kaba’s distraught family viewed body-worn footage captured by officers in two police cars who chased and hemmed in his Audi Q8 late at night on September 5.
His cousin Jefferson Bosela, the family representative, tweeted on Friday: “The whole world needs to see that footage; when the time is right, they will.”
Scotland Yard has been approached for comment.
Mr Kaba was shot once in the head, suffering catastrophic injuries, on the narrow south London street. The Metropolitan Police officer involved has been suspended and the Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched a homicide investigation.
His family privately met Scotland Yard’s new Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, for 25 minutes after viewing the footage on Wednesday.
His mother said that she remained determined to achieve “justice” over her son’s death.
“It was hard… very hard,” she said following Wednesday’s meeting. “As I’ve said before, my heart is already broken. What I want is justice for my son and I want the truth.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has said its investigation into Mr Kaba’s death will be “complex” and take six to nine months to complete as a “significant amount of evidence” is examined.
It has also disclosed that the shooting occurred as police “attempted to stop and contain” the Audi that Mr Kaba was driving and that the pursuit was prompted after the vehicle, which was not registered to Mr Kaba, was linked by automatic numberplate technology to a firearms incident in previous days.
Few other details have been officially disclosed, although the prospect of any criminal charge against the officer who fired the fatal shot is likely to depend on whether the Crown Prosecution Service ultimately decides that he was acting in self-defence in response to a realistic threat to his life or that of another officer.
