Tributes paid as officer is named
A METROPOLITAN Police officer fatally shot at a south London custody suite has been named as Matiu Ratana.
Mr Ratana, 54, died in hospital after the gunman, who was being detained, opened fire at Croydon Custody Centre in south London during the early hours of yesterday.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said he was a longserving and “much-loved” officer.
Tributes have been paid to Mr Ratana, also known as Matt, who is said to have joined the force nearly 30 years ago.
One friend said the officer was looking forward to retirement and told the PA news agency: “I think he earned his stripes, if you ask me.”
Police colleagues have also paid their respects to Mr Ratana.
Community police officer Jacqueline Kufuor told PA “Sgt Ratana was a lovely guy” and “the nicest man I have ever met”.
She said: “He was a very lovely man. He was such a nice man. When he sees you, he would just stand and talk to you.
“He would ask you about your job and how you’re coping and how you are doing out there.
“So when I ever had issues, I would just talk to him.”
Mr Ratana is thought to originally be from New Zealand, and some tributes to him feature a silver fern – seen on the country’s flag.
The officer was described as “an inspiration” by a friend who knew him from playing rugby together at East Grinstead Rugby Club, where he is also listed as a head coach.
The 27-year-old friend, who would only give his name as Paul, said: “We all looked to him – on the field or off the rugby field… losing that is big.
“The man was a machine. He went from training with us last night to come to his shift work here in Croydon. He would do that week in and week out.
“He bought into the whole family atmosphere that we had at the club. A few of my teammates (on hearing about his death) are just not sure how to take it.”
The officer is thought to be the first to be killed in a shooting in the line of duty since PCS Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, in September 2012.
They were murdered by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade attack while responding to a report of a burglary in Greater Manchester.
The Met sergeant is the 17th from the force to be killed by a firearm since the end of the Second World War, according to the National Police Memorial roll of honour.
Unarmed PC Keith Palmer, who was stabbed in March 2017 by terrorist Khalid Masood during the Westminster Bridge attack, was the last Met officer to be killed in the line of duty.
The roll of honour includes PC Andrew Harper, who died when he was caught in a tow rope and dragged along country lanes after trying to stop quad bike thieves in Berkshire in August 2019.