Police watchdog launches murder investigation after fatal police shooting of unarmed rapper

9 September 2022, 19:18 | Updated: 9 September 2022, 19:42

Chris Kaba, 24, was shot dead by Met officers.
Chris Kaba, 24, was shot dead by Met officers. Picture: Alamy

By Sophie Barnett

The police watchdog has launched a murder investigation into the death of an unarmed black man, who was killed in a fatal police shooting in south London.

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Chris Kaba, 24, who was due to become a father within months, died following a Met police pursuit that ended in Streatham Hill, on Monday night.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has today launched a homicide investigation into his death.

The IOPC said Mr Kaba died after a single shot was fired by an MPS officer from the specialist firearms command while police attempted to stop and contain the vehicle he was driving.

The watchdog said Mr Kaba was driving a vehicle not registered to him that had been flagged up by an automatic number plate recognition camera as having been linked to a firearms incident in previous days.

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In a statement, the IOPC said: "Our investigation team is continuing to gather and review a large amount of evidence, however as this is now a criminal investigation, we are limited in what further information we can provide. The launch of a criminal investigation does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow.

"We have notified Mr Kaba's family of this latest development.

"We continue to ask that people avoid speculating about this incident out of respect for Mr Kaba's family and for everyone else affected."

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