Jean Charles de Menezes

Pursuit and shooting

The officers followed Menezes for 5 minutes as he walked to the Tulse Hill bus-stop for the Number 2 bus line. As he boarded the bus, several plain clothes police officers boarded, continuing the pursuit. At some point during the 10-25 minute ride to the Stockwell Tube station, Menezes briefly got off the bus, waited a few moments and boarded it again. The three surveillance officers later stated that they were satisfied that they had the correct man, as he "had mongolian eyes". {{ref|m1}} Finally the bus arrived at Stockwell Tube station, 3.3km (2 miles) away.

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At some point during this journey, the pursuing officers contacted Gold Command, and reported that Menezes potentially matched the description of two of the previous day's suspects, including Osman Hussain. Based on this information, Gold Command authorized "code red" tactics, and ordered the surveillance officers to prevent Menezes from boarding a train. According to a "senior police source at Scotland Yard", Police Commander Cressida Dick told the surveillance team that the man was to be "detained as soon as possible", before entering the station. "There's no doubt that Commander Dick did not instruct anyone to shoot de Menezes". {{ref|a1}} Gold Command then transferred control of the operation to SO19, which dispatched firearms officers to Stockwell Tube Station.

Related Topics:
Osman Hussain - Cressida Dick - SO19

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At some point Menezes phoned a colleague, Gesio de Avila, saying he would be late due to the disruption of public transport caused by the previous day's attempted bombings.

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Menezes entered the Tube station at about 10:00 a.m., stopping to pick up a free Metro newspaper. He used his Oyster card to pay the fare and walked through the barriers, and descended the escalator slowly. He then ran across the platform to board the newly-arrived train. Menezes boarded the train and found one of the first available seats.

Related Topics:
Tube - Free Metro newspaper - Oyster card

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Three surveillance officers, all white English males, codenamed Hotel 1, Hotel 3 and Hotel 9 followed Menezes onto the train. According to Hotel 3, Menezes sat down with a glass panel to his right about two seats in. Hotel 3 then took a seat on the left with about two or three persons between the surveillance officer and Menezes. When the firearms officers arrived on the platform, Hotel 3 moved to the door, blocked it from closing with their left foot, and shouted 'He's here!' to identify the suspect's location.

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The firearms officers boarded the train and challenged the suspect. According to Hotel 3, Menezes then stood up and advanced towards the officers and Hotel 3, at which point Hotel 3 grabbed him, pinned his arms against his torso, and pushed him back into the seat. Although Menezes was being restrained, the body of Menezes was straight and not in a natural sitting position. After hearing a shot close to their ear, the surveillance officer was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage. Hotel 3 then shouted 'Police!' and with hands raised was dragged out of the carriage by one of the armed officers who had boarded the train. Hotel 3 then heard several gunshots while being dragged out.{{ref|Dispatch_August_23_2005}}

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Two officers fired a total of eleven shots according to the number of empty shell casings found on the floor of the train afterwards. Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder at close range, and died at the scene. An eyewitness later said that the eleven shots were fired over a thirty second period, at three second intervals. {{ref|g1}} A separate witness reported hearing five shots, followed at an interval by several more shots. {{ref|2ndW}}

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Immediately after the shooting, the Metropolitan Police claimed that the shooting was "directly linked" to the investigation of the attempted bombings the previous day. It was revealed that police policy toward suspected suicide bombers had been revised, instructing officers to fire directly toward the head, as British authorities claim that shooting at the chest could detonate a concealed bomb.{{ref|shootinhead}}

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The officers involved in the shooting (from Scotland Yard?s SO19 firearms branch) were debriefed and drugs and alcohol tests were taken as a standard procedure. The officers were taken off duty pending an investigation into the shooting.

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Later, a security agency source said: ?This take-out is the signature of a special forces operation. It is not the way the police usually do things. We know members of SO19 have been receiving training from the SAS, but even so, this has special forces written all over it.? {{ref|c1}}

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