Prosecutors will now consider whether to charge a Met Police officer after an unarmed man was shot dead in the street.
Chris Kaba, 24, was killed after police followed the vehicle he was driving with no lights or sirens for 15 minutes before he turned into a residential street.
This morning, the police watchdog said it handed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide if a cop will face charges.
Chris's family today thanked the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for honouring the six to nine-month timeframe that was originally set out and asked for no more delays.
The IOPC said a referral to the CPS doesn't necessarily mean criminal charges will follow.
The CPS will now have to decide whether to prosecute the officer.
No gun was found in his car or near the scene.
A spokesperson for the Kaba family said: "The family would like to thank the IOPC and in particular the lead investigator who honoured his six to nine month timeframe. We urge the CPS to charge NX121 with no delays."
In a further statement, the family said: “Our family, alongside the community who have supported us over the past seven months, have been consistent in our call for accountability.
"This step forward is necessary and welcome. We urge the Crown Prosecution Service to do their bit and provide their advice to the IOPC urgently.
"We very much hope that the CPS advise in favour of a prosecution and that the truth will emerge, without delay, through criminal proceedings. Our family and community cannot continue waiting for answers.
"Chris was so loved by our family and all his friends. He had a bright future ahead of him before his life was cut short. We must see justice for Chris.”
IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said: “This was a tragic incident and our investigators have been working hard to ensure that our comprehensive investigation has been completed without undue delay and within the six-to-nine-month timeframe we provided.
“Mr Kaba died after he was struck by a single gunshot fired by an MPS officer into the vehicle he was driving.
“During the investigation, the officer was advised they were under criminal investigation for murder and following the conclusion of our investigation we have referred a file of evidence to the CPS to determine whether to charge the officer.
“A referral to the CPS does not necessarily mean that criminal charges will follow. It is now for the CPS to decide, applying the tests in the Code for Crown Prosecutors, whether or not to prosecute the officer.
“Mr Kaba’s family and the officer involved have been notified of this development.”
Chris' death sparked protests across the UK, with his family demanding answers for what happened during the incident which saw the father-to-be shot in the head and his family informed 11 hours later.
MPs including Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Jeremy Corbyn, and Dianne Abbott lent their voices in support as the family delivered a letter to Rishi Sunak asking to discuss changes to the judicial process following state-related deaths, which he has yet to respond to.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “My thoughts are with Chris Kaba’s family, friends and loved ones today. Chris had his whole life ahead of him and his death has had a huge impact on Londoners, and in particular black Londoners, with anger, pain and fear felt across communities, along with a desire for change and justice.
“It was vital that the IOPC fully investigated all the evidence before making a decision, and now that they have referred this case to the CPS, I hope it will be considered as swiftly as possible.”
Chris's cousin Jefferson Bosela, a teacher, told how he broke down in tears at the school where he worked. after hearing the news through a text of an online report. The Met Police admitted there was a "delay" in informing his relatives.
Jefferson claimed the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had been "vague" and “inconsistent” in giving the family answers, and that campaigners had to “hound them” in order to get any.
He also claimed that two days after Chris was shot dead, the IOPC couldn’t tell the family if the car had been searched or not, and whether it was registered to him.
Speaking at the time, a spokesperson for the IOPC said: “We’ve been in contact with Chris Kaba’s family’s legal representatives this week and have provided them with answers to a number of questions, including how we can facilitate their viewing of video footage.
“We are keeping in regular contact with his family and will update them as our investigation progresses.”
It was later found that there was no gun in the vehicle Chris was driving or near the scene.
In the week of Chris' death, the Kaba family made key demands to see the police bodycam footage from the evening he was stopped which they were able to view on Wednesday, September 21.
They also demanded for the officer involved to be suspended, interviewed under caution and a homicide investigation to be launched.
The officer was later suspended from duty but Chris' family felt that it had taken too long to do so.
Speaking to the Mirror, Jefferson said: "He didn't get suspended quick enough. He got suspended on a Monday and the criminal investigation opened on a Friday.
“It's not theft. It's a homicide investigation. That’s probably the highest in terms of the degrees of things. That’s really serious.
“How did an immediate suspension not follow? You raise your eyebrows and think what's going on there.”
Appearing on the BBC, Chris' mother Helen Lumuanganu slammed the Met Police calling them "racist" and raising concerns that had he "not been black", would his life have been "cut short."
The IOPC said that the case would also explore whether race was a factor in any of the decisions made that led up to Chris being shot.
Within the last six months, new details from the inquest emerged leading the Met to U-turn on their previous report that Chris had been chased by an officer.
In a statement released by the Met the day after he was shot on September 6, they stated that “specialist firearms officers were in pursuit of a suspect vehicle in the Lambeth area.”
However, during the inquest into Chris’ death, the lead investigator for the IOPC told the hearing officers did not activate their lights or sirens before the father-to-be was shot.
They told the court: “Officers continued to follow the Audi until 10.07pm. The officers did not activate their lights or sirens while following the vehicle.”
A spokesperson for the Met told the Mirror the first statement was originally based on information available in the "very early stages."
The family had also been subject to online trolling of claims that Chris has "refused to stop" but instead it was revealed that Chris had made a left turn into Kirstall Gardens where a marked police armed response car was present.
The marked armed vehicle was parked with the intention of joining the other police vehicles behind the Audi once it had passed the junction.
But when Chris made the turning, the officer made a decision to perform an ‘inline extraction’ where armed officers exited their vehicles, approached the Audi and fatally shot Chris in the head through the windscreen.
Furthermore, Chris' cousin Jefferson Bosela blasted the investigation after it was discovered that the night Chris Kaba was shot, the high-value watch he had been wearing had disappeared.
Speaking to the Mirror, Jefferson said: "How could his watch go missing? I’m disgusted and gutted.
“It's almost quite surreal that we have to endure the fact that we lost Chris but also the fact that we’re having to fight as well.
“It's just absolute disrespect."
