British cop who shot unarmed suspect may face murder charge

A firearms officer who shot an unarmed man dead in a car park may face a murder charge, the police watchdog says. Anthony Paul Grainger, 36, died after being stopped in a stolen Audi in a planned operation last month.

The Mail on Sunday last week disclosed an official police document detailing the background to the shooting by a Greater Manchester officer in the village of Culcheth, Cheshire, on March 3.

It revealed that the police apparently had little evidence to conclude that Mr Grainger and the two men with him – who cannot be named for legal reasons – might be armed.

The document, an official ‘summary of evidence’, stated that officers saw one of the men putting a hacksaw in another car a few days earlier and had separately observed the three individuals driving around the village. But they apparently had no direct information they were carrying weapons, raising serious doubts as to whether the shooting was justified.

Sources close to the Independent Police Complaints Commission inquiry said investigators were previously unaware of the document’s contents.

Officers are governed by the criminal law and police rules that state they may open fire only if there is an imminent and extreme danger to innocent life.

Father-of-two Mr Grainger was killed by a single bullet from a police sub-machine gun.

Original report here




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