THE police watchdog has launched a homicide investigation into the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba by armed Metropolitan Police officers in south London.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said this followed its review of the evidence gathered so far after the incident in Streatham Hill on Monday.
“Mr Kaba died after a single shot was fired by an MPS officer from the specialist firearms command while police attempted to stop and contain the vehicle he was driving,” the IOPC said.
“This followed the activation of an automatic number plate recognition camera which indicated the vehicle was linked to a firearms incident in previous days. The vehicle Mr Kaba was driving was not registered to him.
“Our investigation team is continuing to gather and review a large amount of evidence, however as this is now a criminal investigation, we are limited in what further information we can provide.
“The launch of a criminal investigation does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow.”
The IOPC added: “We have notified Mr Kaba’s family of this latest development. We continue to ask that people avoid speculating about this incident out of respect for Mr Kaba’s family and for everyone else affected.”
The watchdog has previously confirmed that no gun was found in the car Mr Kaba was driving.
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