From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
POLICE MARKSMAN THOUGHT GUNMAN WOULD KILL HIM
A police marksman told an inquest he was certain he was
going to be shot in the head before he pulled the trigger
and killed a man.
Former soldier Antony Kitts, 20, was shot dead by police
on April 10 last year after he aimed a weapon at officers
on the outskirts of Falmouth, Cornwall.
It was only after his death that police learned the firearm
pointed at them was an airgun and not a 0.22 rifle. Two
police marksmen and a dog handler have been granted anonymity
by West Cornwall coroner Edward Carlyon during the inquest
held at Truro Crown Court.
Giving evidence from behind screens, armed response officers
A and B told how they went to Falmouth after hearing a man
had aimed a gun at police. When they arrived they were told
by other officers the gun looked like a 0.22 rifle.
As they approached the place where the gunman had last been
seen they saw Mr Kitts with what they believed to be a
"sniper rifle" with a telescopic sight.
Officer B shouted: "Armed police, stand still, put your
weapon down." He said the man continued to advance towards
them. Officer A said the man looked as if he could handle
a gun. The officers continued to shout "armed police" but
Mr Kitts kept walking. Officer A said Mr Kitts then stopped,
appeared to take aim and get ready to fire a shot.
He said: "I was hit with a wave of emotion that said I'm
going to die. He was now happy to take a shot at me from
that distance. I might hear a noise, feel some pain and
then my head was going to explode. I thought he was going
to shoot me in the head."
He said he aimed at Mr Kitts's torso and squeezed the
trigger. He waited a couple of seconds then fired again
and Mr Kitts fell to the ground.
Officer A, who broke down while giving evidence, said he
was filled with disbelief at what had happened but felt
he had done the right thing at the time. He added: "I
still feel I was totally justified in my actions. The man
left me no choice."
Officer B, who had been on the other side of the road
from his colleagues said: "I felt a sense of relief when
Police Constable A fired. A sense of relief that the man
was no longer a threat to my life. I was glad to still be
alive."
(c) Copyright Ananova Ltd 2000, all rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you point what can be reasonably mistaken for a firearm at an armed
policeman it is equally reasonable that you are going to get shot. I have a
lot of sympathy with the policeman. However, if the above report is accurate
then the inconsistency between identifying the air gun as a 22 rifle and a ~
sniper rifle ~ is pretty wild.
Kenneth Pantling
--
Police terminology: any rifle fitted with a telescopic sight
is a "sniper" rifle.
Frankly I think it is totally irrelevant, even if I knew for a
100% certainty that the rifle was an air rifle and I had been
that police officer I would still have shot him.
Air rifles can cause serious injury, and for all he knew it
could have been a Section 1 air rifle with 80 ft/lb of
muzzle energy.
Anyone stupid enough to point a gun at an armed police officer
can expect to get shot.
I think there have been some questionable cases, e.g. guy is
drunk, armed with a replica and wife has told the police it
is a replica, but in this case I think the police were
fully justified.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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