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 Chris Kaba have renewed their call for justice after seeing video footage of his fatal shooting by a Met firearms officer.
The bodycam film was shown to Mr Kaba’s family at a meeting with Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Michael Lockwood, the head of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Neither the Met nor the watchdog, which has launched a homicide investigation into the shooting after disclosing that Mr Kaba, 24, was not carrying a gun, commented on the discussions.
But Mr Kaba’s mother said that she remained determined to achieve “justice” over her son’s death.
“It was hard… very hard,” she said following the meeting. “As I’ve said before, my heart is already broken. What I want is justice for my son and I want the truth.”
Jefferson Bosela, Mr Kaba’s cousin, also attended the meeting and echoed her call. saying that the family “just wants justice” but was now “going take a break and take a step back”.
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.
A witness told the Standard shortly after the shooting that the vehicle that Mr Kaba was in was being driven at police and used as a weapon.
The continuing demands for justice over Mr Kaba’s death, which has prompted public protests, came as the Met’s overall performance was strongly criticised in a report by the police inspectorate.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services said the force was “failing in several areas”, including in its response to the public, and needs to make “urgent improvements”.
The inspectors said the problems included a failure to record some rapes quickly enough which risked potential harm to investigations and the support given to victims, and similar failure to record some “domestic abuse or behavioural crimes, such as controlling and coercive behavious, stalking and harassment.”
Other weaknesses included an “inexperienced workforce” resulting from a recent recruitment drive and a large exodus of officers each year, as well as a high number of outstanding suspects still to be tracked down.
