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Firearms Pc told 'keep gun down' | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A firearms officer who fatally shot a colleague in the chest had been told to keep his gun pointed down during the training exercise, an inquest heard. | |
The officer who shot Pc Ian Terry, 32, earlier said he acted "instinctively", as Greater Manchester Police's firearms unit practised in a disused factory. | |
The ammunition used to kill Pc Terry, in 2008, was only to be shot at a person if "there was a threat to life". | |
Pc Terry was not wearing body armour, Coroner Nigel Meadows told the inquest. | |
The father-of-two, from Burnley in Lancashire, was shot at close range while holding an empty gun, as he played the role of an armed robber fleeing in a car. | |
The specialist firearms officer who shot him cannot be named for legal reasons, but is to be referred to as Chris throughout the five-week inquest. | |
Fatal shot | |
Chris shot his fellow colleague with a single shot of Round Irritant Personnel (RIP) ammunition, the hearing was told. He was using a pump action shotgun at the time and was a foot away from Pc Terry when he fired the fatal shot. | |
Throughout the training exercise, the inquest heard, the 20 officers taking part were told to keep their guns pointed down and aim only for the car's tyres. | |
Chris said he acted instinctively to the threat of the gun from Pc Terry Coroner Nigel Meadows | |
The aim of the specialist firearms officers was to burst the tyres of Pc Terry's "getaway" car and then pull the "suspects" out of the vehicle. | |
Mr Meadows outlined what happened shortly before the shooting. | |
He said: "Pc Terry extended his left hand through the window of the vehicle. Chris approached from the rear and held up his firearm to cover the vehicle and the occupants. | |
"At some point Chris removed the safety catch as he approached the vehicle. | |
"He approached with the shotgun and he fired it at Pc Terry from about a foot from his body. | |
"The shot struck him on the left side of his chest." | |
The commander of the operation - under the pseudonym Francis - "had told the officers that there would be a shoot scenario which would involve a vehicle and the occupants and that they would have unloaded guns," Mr Meadows said. | |
"He also said the shotgun should only be used to deflate the tyre and to be pointed down at all times. | |
"Francis said he asked the group whether they understood the instructions and they replied they did." | |
Shooting 'unintended' | |
However, Mr Meadows said that Chris, who had been interviewed shortly after the shooting, said he was not aware he was in a shoot scenario. | |
He was interviewed at the site of the training exercise in a disused warehouse in Newton Heath, Manchester. | |
Mr Meadows told the hearing: "Chris said he acted instinctively to the threat of the gun from Pc Terry, although it was appreciated it was a training exercise. | |
"He later told the Independent Police Complaints Commission that he acted by instinct and had not intended to shoot a colleague." | |
Despite first aid at the scene, Pc Terry died later in hospital. | |
Before the inquest at Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Mr Meadows said that at least 26 officers would be granted anonymity. | |
The hearing continues. |