Shoot to Kill

Police shot and killed a man at Stockwell Underground station in south London on Friday, as the city remained on alert following four minor explosions on Thursday.

From The Times of London:

A man shot dead by police at a Tube station this morning is believed to be one of the bombers who escaped after yesterday's failed quadruple attack across London, police sources have told The Times.

Specialist armed police shot the man five times after he vaulted a ticket barrier at Stockwell station and boarded a stationary Tube train at just after 10am.

Passengers described how an Asian man in a black baseball cap and blue padded coat leapt the barrier and scrambled down escalators onto the platform, stumbling through the open doors.

...Scotland Yard said: "We can confirm that just after 10am armed officers entered Stockwell Tube station. A man was challenged by officers and subsequently shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene."

Mark Whitby, a witness, said that the man was shot five times at close range after he had jumped on to a train.

He said that the train was standing in the station with its doors open when the Asian man ran on, pursued by three plain-clothes officers. He tripped and was also pushed to the floor and one of the officers shot him five times.

"It was no more than five yards away from where I was sitting . As the man got on the train I looked at his face. He looked from left to right, but he basically looked like a cornered rabbit, like a cornered fox. He looked absolutely petrified.

"He sort of tripped but they were hotly pursuing him and couldn’t have been more than two or three feet behind him at this time He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor.

"The policeman nearest to me had the black automatic pistol in his left hand, he held it down to the guy and unloaded five shots into him.

"He looked like a Pakistani but he had a baseball cap on, and quite a thickish coat.

"It was a coat like you would wear in winter, a sort of padded jacket. Maybe he might have had something concealed under there, I don’t know. But it looked out of place in the weather we’ve been having.

Although it appeared that this was another attack in the making, Sky News reported that no explosives were later found on the man. That was not confirmed by authorities at the press conference that concluded moments ago.

Should they have shot him?

Before asking that question, one needs to ask: Why didn't this man cooperate with police?

Vaulting over a ticket barrier while wearing a thick coat, trying to evade authorities is not a good idea.

In the news conference, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the man was challenged and ignored police. He said the shooting was directly linked to yesterday's incidents.

He emphasized that authorities are tracking down criminals, not any section of the community.

Obviously, this addresses complaints by Muslim clerics that profiling is underway.

Should police have shot the man?

Of course, it would have been more advantageous to arrest the man. This would have provided an opportunity for them to garner information from him that might aid in breaking up a terrorist cell.

He was shot because it was clear that police believed an attack was about to occur. If they didn't shoot to completely disable him, the man could have detonated a bomb.

Responsibility for the killing belongs with the man, not police. He did not cooperate when challenged.

Terrorists are at WAR with the people of London. London must respond accordingly.

I don't think there should be concern about some "shoot to kill" policy. Concern would be warranted if authorities weren't doing everything possible to thwart attacks.

It should be noted that in this case "shoot to kill" means "shoot to protect innocents from terrorists bent on murdering them."