Coventry shooting: Man killed by armed police during raid named as Sean Fitzgerald
Two others detained during what has been described as ‘intelligence-led’ operation
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Your support makes all the difference.A 31-year-old man shot dead by armed police during a raid at a house in Coventry has been named by friends as Sean Fitzgerald.
Police swooped on the property in Burnaby Road on Friday evening in what was described by West Midlands Police as an “intelligence-led operation”.
The death of Mr Fitzgerald, believed to be a former serviceman, has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which will examine footage from body cameras being worn officers involved as well as CCTV.
Two other men were arrested and detained as part of the raid over suspected drugs offences, West Midlands Police said.
Friends of the deceased man paid tribute on Saturday, including one, who gave his name only as Ali, who described him as a “very, very good guy” who had served as a member of the armed forces.
“He's served for all of us – the police, everybody – in the army up until last year,” he said.
A family member wrote online that she was “absolutely gutted” by Mr Fitzgerald’s death, while another friend described him as a “one of a kind” person who “would be there for anyone”.
It has not been revealed if the operation was terrorism related – but witnesses described seeing a large number of officers in the area, including a significant number of police vehicles as officers executed a warrant at the address at 6.20pm.
“One man was shot and pronounced dead at the scene while two other men were detained by officers,” the force said.
Locals were told to go indoors as a section of the street – a large residential road north of the city centre – was closed.
Fire engineer Karl Lolley, a father-of-two who lives behind the police cordon, said he heard “four or five” gunshots after witnessing officers descend on the home.
“I saw three or four armed police cars turn up. Five to six armed officers got out and they went in the front door. There was some gunshots,” Mr Lolley, 39, said.
“The next thing you know there’s more police arriving and they cordon off the area.
“They carry a person out on a stretcher, they put him in an ambulance – the lights on the ambulance were flashing for about half an hour as they were working on him.
“Then they turned the lights off and they drove off slowly. Obviously they pronounced him dead.”
The area around the scene remained cordoned off on Saturday morning.
The IOPC confirmed it opened an inquiry after the force reported the fatality during a “pre-planned operation”.
IOPC regional director Amanda Rowe: “Our investigation is in its very early stages and we will be working hard to establish what happened. My thoughts are with the man's family and all of those affected by this incident.
“The next steps will be to view the body-worn video footage and establish if there are any local CCTV recordings. At this stage we are looking at the circumstances of the incident and all officers remain witnesses to our investigation.”
Additional reporting by PA