Man shot dead by police at London subway station

Seven of Nine · **Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:42 am**

Um, the police have admitted they did...

Founder · **Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:49 am**

Birdy · Socialist Joined: 20 Sep 2004 Posts: 13502 Location: Here.

magenta · **Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:31 am**

They shot him because they thought he had a bomb strapped to his body.He ran when they told him to stop,he had a hot large coat on when it was a warm day.They were on edge after a lot of innocent people had been blown up,they were under a lot of pressure.Shooting in the head is the only way[they were trained to do this]to stop them from detonating the bomb.So basically they were doing their job and what they were trained to do!
I dont believe they would do something like that on purpose for the world and onlookers to see if they didnt believe him to be a threat!
My condolences to his family on their loss!

IntrepidIsMe · **Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:22 pm**

I suppose you didn't really read that article,

I'll quote something for you: "was wearing a denim jacket, rather than a bulky coat as police had previously said."

This is sad, and I still think that those police did the right thing. They had to make a split second decision. One life, or a possible 100+? I personally don't see how anyone could hide a bomb under a denim jacket, though.

However, if the police chief did lie about this, then I think that yes, he should resign.

Seven of Nine · **Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:32 pm**

They could have confronted him at any point between his flat and the tube station, considering they followed him from there. I don't know what was going on, but this seems too much like a "we've got to show we're doing something" publicity stunt to me.

magenta · **Thu Aug 18, 2005 8:40 pm**

:(Yeah scare tactics toward the suicide bombers,sad that a person had to die to prove it.

lex · Lieutenant Commander Joined: 23 Dec 2004 Posts: 226

Jeremy · **Wed Aug 24, 2005 6:00 am**

There isn't any hard evidence at the moment either way. It's all mixed up. I'm waiting until the enquiry comes out before I start deciding one way or the other.

lex · Lieutenant Commander Joined: 23 Dec 2004 Posts: 226

Well, actually, there IS hard evidence - for example: photos of the dead man, clearly showing that he was wearing only a light denim jacket, NOT the bulky coat, he had a passcard, which they now know he used to get to the train; he didn't jump the turnstyle, etc. And the police themselves admitted they'd made a series of blunders that led to the shooting, that they'd shot an innocent man. So there's not any debate going on at this point about whether this guy was a terrorist; it's been plainly stated by the police force itself that he was NOT.

The controversy that IS still going on, is, of couse, HOW something like this could have happened, and whether there was an attempt at a cover-up by the top brass in the Police Department. On that, the evidence is still coming in.