A coroner has raised concerns that police firearms training did not ensure “clear and consistent understanding” about when armed officers should announce their arrival before a man was fatally shot during a raid.
Sean Fitzgerald, who was unarmed, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest after leaving a property in Coventry at about 6.20pm on January 4 2019.
West Midlands Police firearms officers, who were investigating a suspected organised crime gang, “began using a chainsaw to break down the front door” while Mr Fitzgerald emerged from the back door.
The jury concluded in May, at the end of a six-week inquest, that the 31-year-old was lawfully killed when a firearms officer, known as Officer K, fired the fatal shot while standing seven-and-a-half feet from the back door.
Officer K told the inquest he had been standing in the back garden of the property when he saw a curtain move and a man holding a black object which he thought was a gun, the BBC reported.
A prevention of future deaths report published on Tuesday said officers at the front of the property did not shout “armed police” before breaking down the two doors at the front of the property.
The jury found that the officers should have announced “armed police” at the front and rear of the property before they began entering and when the curtain was seen moving through the window.
Sir John Saunders, sitting as coroner for Coventry and Warwickshire, said in his report: “Given the risks to life inherent in armed policing, both to the officers and to members of the public, it is important that firearms officers are given the best possible training and support to perform their role.
“In these circumstances, I am concerned that the guidance and training given to firearms officers on tactics of containing and entering properties (and specifically in relation to the containment and call out with limited entry tactic) does not ensure a clear and consistent understanding of when they should announce their presence, or what factors to consider in deciding when to make the announcement.
“The evidence of the officers involved in the operation as to the recommended or standard practice was inconsistent.
“If the approach of different officers is inconsistent, there is the clear potential for mistakes to be made and for the lives of officers and others to be put at risk.
“The timing of the announcement is plainly important, and any potential for confusion or for making the announcement at the wrong time risks fatal consequences.”
The report, which was sent to West Midlands Police and the College of Policing, also said Sir John is concerned that training and guidance about how firearms officers should position themselves “does not include detailed consideration of the risks of taking up position in close proximity to entrances”.
Sir John said: “It does not appear to address the effects of proximity on threat perception and the use of force.”
