A Metropolitan Police officer could face criminal charges over the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba after the police watchdog handed over evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Amanda Rowe, the director of operations at the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), said: “During the investigation the officer was advised that 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.”
The IOPC concluded its investigation into the 24-year-old’s death earlier this month before confirming its recommendations on Thursday.
It has been eight months since Mr Kaba was shot by a police officer on 5 September last year.
He was driving an Audi that had been linked by police to a firearms incident the previous day, an inquest heard in October. He was unarmed and not being treated as a suspect.
That night, officers began to follow him in an unmarked armed response vehicle (ARV) with no lights or sirens, recognising the Audi near the A202 in Camberwell Green at around 9.52pm.
He eventually made a left turn into Kirkstall Gardens, a street in Streatham, south London, at around 10.07pm, where a marked police vehicle was parked with the intention of joining the other police vehicles behind the Audi once it had passed the junction.
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The IOPC said that at this point “the evidence suggests there was contact made between the Audi driven by Mr Kaba and the police vehicles”.
The father-to-be was then killed by a single shot fired through his windscreen, by an officer known as NX121.
His killing was followed by protests and community events led by his family.
He never got to meet his baby daughter, who was born after his death, just days before his funeral.
Speaking to Sky News in March, to mark the six-month anniversary of his death, his parents said they have felt unable to grieve while the legal proceedings continued.
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“We want answers for our questions: our boy was killed – why?” said his father Prosper Kaba. “It’s been hard, very hard. All of it has been hurting hard. My family is devastated, my life is devastated. There is no more life.”
His mother, Helen Lumuanganu, added: “Enough is enough, I need an answer.
“I need to grieve for my son. We need a verdict, we need to grieve for Chris.”
