Chris Kaba: Armed officers step back from duties after murder charge

A number of police officers in London have stepped back from firearms duties after a marksman was charged with the murder of a man.

Unarmed Chris Kaba, 24, died after he was shot in south London last year.

A Metropolitan Police officer appeared in court on Thursday.

The Met said many firearms officers were "worried" about how the charging decision "impacts on them". Armed officers from other forces are being deployed as a contingency measure.

The force said its own officers still make up the vast majority of armed police in the capital but they were being supported from Saturday evening by a limited number of firearms officers from neighbouring forces.

A source suggested that more than 100 officers have handed in what is known as a ticket permitting them to carry firearms.

In a statement, the Met said firearms officers were concerned that the Crown Prosecution Service bringing a charge against the officer "signals a shift in the way the decisions they take in the most challenging circumstances will be judged".

A spokesperson said: "A number of officers have taken the decision to step back from armed duties while they consider their position. That number has increased over the past 48 hours.

"We are in ongoing discussions with those officers to support them and to fully understand the genuinely held concerns that they have."

The Met added it has a "significant firearms capability and we continue to have armed officers deployed in communities across London as well as at other sites including Parliament, diplomatic premises, airports etc".

The statement comes after Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and senior officers have been meeting with firearms officers following the CPS decision to charge the officer.

Sir Mark said on Friday many firearms officers are "understandably anxious" and were "reflecting on the potential price of such weighty responsibilities".

Mr Kaba died on 5 September 2022 from a single gunshot wound to the head after the car he was driving was hemmed in by a police vehicle and an officer opened fire in Streatham Hill.

He was being followed by an unmarked police car with no lights or sirens and turned into a residential street where he was blocked by a marked police car.

A firearms officer fired one shot through the windscreen and hit Mr Kaba.

His death prompted a number of protests, particularly among London's black communities.

It later emerged that the Audi that Mr Kaba was driving, which did not belong to him, had been linked by police to a gun incident the day before.

The officer charged with the murder has not been named publicly after an application for anonymity was granted in court and is known as NX121. He has been released on bail.