There was no chase before Chris Kaba was shot dead by police, family say
Mr Kaba was blocked by a marked police vehicle while driving an Audi in Streatham, south London, an inquest opening has heard.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The cousin of Chris Kaba has said there was “no chase” before the father-to-be was shot dead by a firearms officer, despite the Metropolitan Police claiming a pursuit had occurred.
Jefferson Bosela, whose 24-year-old relative Mr Kaba died in September, told how the family had to step back from campaigning after viewing traumatising footage of the incident.
Mr Kaba was blocked by a marked police vehicle while driving an Audi in Streatham, south London, an inquest opening has heard.
There was “contact” between the two cars before a marksman fired a single shot through the windscreen, hitting him in the head, the hearing was told.
Speaking at a march in central London on Saturday for bereaved families whose relatives have died in custody, Mr Bosela told the PA news agency: “They said there was a chase, they said there was a pursuit – there was no pursuit, there was no chase, there were no lights, there were no sirens.
“Viewing the footage and the body in one week – as you can imagine for anyone, that is traumatic, so we didn’t want the added pressure of the media trying to find out what was in the footage.”
On September 6, the day after the incident, the Met released a statement claiming there had been a “pursuit of a suspect vehicle”.
It read: “At 21:51hrs on September 5, specialist firearms officers were in pursuit of a suspect vehicle in the Lambeth area.”
The force has been contacted for comment.
Also present at Saturday’s protest was Mr Kaba’s mother, Helen Nkama, who gave an emotional speech outside Downing Street in which she pleaded for answers.
Addressing police, she asked: “I want them to ask me, to tell me, how was Chris the last day?
“How did Chris feel? What was the last words of Chris? Did he ask for me? Did he call for me? What did Chris say?
“I wish this painful death must be the last – it must be the last.”