Hero PC who shot London Bridge jihadi was rookie on FIRST call-out
ONE of the armed policemen who tackled the London Bridge terrorists was on his first call-out as a marksman, it can be revealed. The officer had only just completed his training and had been in the role for two weeks when he had to confront the three killers.
He was part of an Armed Response Vehicle (ARV) team from City of London Police that sped to the scene on June 3 with two units from Scotland Yard.
They cornered Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba in Borough Market after the extremists mowed down pedestrians in a hired van before stabbing revellers in pubs and restaurants, killing eight and injuring dozens more.
The eight armed police officers – three from the City and five from the Met – shot all three Islamists dead in what chiefs said was an ‘unprecedented’ hail of 46 bullets, because they feared the trio were about to detonate suicide belts.
Although the Independent Police Complaints Commission is looking into the shootings, it has stressed that ‘no individual police officers’ are under investigation.
Last night, Mark Williams, chairman of the Police Firearms Officers Association, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We are incredibly proud of them and all the work they do to protect all of us.’
Assistant Commissioner Alistair Sutherland, from City of London Police, added: ‘We are proud of the actions of all of our officers and staff, and those of the Metropolitan Police and BTP, and how they all responded to the London Bridge terrorist attack, and want to particularly pay tribute to the actions taken by our firearms officers.
‘I believe the incident also demonstrated the fantastic training that our firearms officers receive, which enabled them to go forward automatically to mitigate the threat to the public.
‘These officers went towards danger without any thought for their own safety, and their quick and decisive actions undoubtedly saved further loss of life.’
A £143 million ‘uplift’ of armed police was ordered nationwide in the wake of the Paris terror attacks of late 2015. In total there will be about 10,500 armed police in England and Wales by next year, including specialist counter-terrorism units carrying powerful assault rifles, as well as the high-speed ARV patrols.