COP KILLING: 2ND ARREST
Man is held for allegedly supplying gun as suspect is named
have been 20 police cars and vans bump bumper to bumper lining the private road towards to the farmhouse next door. I could m make out police with guns. Some had a milit military-style uniform on.”
One loca local claimed to have “seen people coming and going from the farm over the last year”, addin adding that a “light-skinned Asian or mixed race” man in his early 20s had been a regular visit visitor over the past few weeks.
The neighbour added: “There’d be a steady stream of white vans late at night. The gates would be chained shut and concrete blocks placed in front to stop anyone coming in.”
Prince Charles led tributes to fallen officers on National Police Memorial Day yesterday.
He said: “The dreadful incident in Croydon on Friday is the latest heartbreaking evidence of the risks faced by our officers daily. I would like to send my deepest sympathy to families of each of these officers who have given their lives. These are losses we can never replace, sacrifices we can never repay.”
Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary Priti Patel laid wreaths at the National Police Memorial in Central London.
Sgt Ratana, 54, originally from New Zealand, is the eighth police officer in the UK to be shot dead in the past 20 years.
Dame Cressida said: “If some good can come out of this terrible incident... it would be that more people can understand a little bit about the challenges of police work and to see us police as who we are – human beings, going to work to help people, to support people and to protect people. Matt was the epitome of that.”
John Apter, of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “Policing comes with a huge amount of risk and this is at the forefront of our minds, even more so following the devastating news on Friday.”
Sgt Ratana’s cousin Adrian Rurawhe, a Labour MP in New Zealand, also paid tribute.
He said: “One thing that’s been really comforting is to hear the stories from friends and colleagues in the UK. He took the values that are important to us and was still carrying them out halfway around the world.”
He added that his cousin had been very happy with partner Sue Bushby, who he lived with in Worthing, West Sussex.