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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Officer speaks of fatal shooting | Officer speaks of fatal shooting |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A police officer who killed a colleague with a pump-action shotgun during a training exercise said the shooting had been an "involuntary act". | |
| Pc Ian Terry, 32, was killed as Greater Manchester Police's firearms unit practised in a disused factory in 2008. | Pc Ian Terry, 32, was killed as Greater Manchester Police's firearms unit practised in a disused factory in 2008. |
| His colleague, a specialist firearms officer, known only as "Chris", said he had no intention of hurting Pc Terry. | His colleague, a specialist firearms officer, known only as "Chris", said he had no intention of hurting Pc Terry. |
| He told an inquest in Manchester he had been "shocked" when the Remington 870 pump-action shotgun went off. | |
| Pc Terry, who was not wearing body armour, was hit in the chest by specialist ammunition called round irritant personnel (RIP). | Pc Terry, who was not wearing body armour, was hit in the chest by specialist ammunition called round irritant personnel (RIP). |
| The father-of-two, from Burnley, was holding a handgun and playing a suspect during a "cops and robbers" vehicle training exercise involving about 20 officers. | |
| Chris, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence at Manchester Coroner's Court behind screens. | |
| "When the weapon went off it was just complete shock," he said. | |
| I never had any intention of hurting anyone. I was there to cover the threat. I don't know why the trigger went off it just did Chris | |
| The inquest was told the officer had said in a statement to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC): "Looking back at this I did not mean to pull the trigger and it was an involuntary act." | |
| Jonathan Hough, counsel for the Coroner Nigel Meadows, asked the officer: "You have described the act as an involuntary act, can we assume this was a shot you did not mean to fire and you are now very remorseful about?" | |
| Chris replied: "I never had any intention of hurting anyone. I was there to cover the threat. I don't know why the trigger went off it just did. | |
| "It was just horrible. I did not want to hurt anyone, especially not Ian. | |
| "I think that was why I was so surprised when it did go off, I just did not expect it to happen." | |
| 'That's the threat' | |
| Chris was a front seat passenger in one of three unmarked police cars - Alpha, Bravo and Charlie - which were tracking the the suspect vehicle, a Suzuki Vitara, in which Pc Terry was a passenger. | |
| Chris's job was to shoot out the tyres of the suspect vehicle. | |
| The Alpha car had hemmed in the suspect car and as the Bravo car pulled up for Chris to get out he said his "focus" was on a weapon being waved about by Pc Terry, playing the villain in the "target" car. | |
| "My immediate reaction was, 'That's the threat' that's what I need to be going for." | |
| The hearing continues. | The hearing continues. |