Updated 22 October 2024: A Met police officer has been cleared of murdering Chris Kaba and found not guilty of the offence by a jury.

Kaba, who was 24 years old and unarmed, was shot by a firearms officer from the Metropolitan police shortly before 10pm on 5 September 2022 in Kirkstall Gardens, Streatham Hill, London. His car was hemmed in by two police cars in a residential street before one round was fired from a police weapon. He later died in hospital.

After the verdict, the family of Chris Kaba said they were devastated by the decision and that the acquittal of the police officer “wasn’t just a failure for our family, but for all those affected by police violence”.

The Met said that the officer had made “a split-second decision on what he believed was necessary to protect his colleagues and to protect London” and that “no police officer is above the law, but we have been clear the system holding police to account is broken”.

As reported 12 September 2022: The death of Chris Kaba has affected the lives of many.

The 24-year-old, who was due to become a father, was fatally shot by a firearms officer from the Metropolitan police shortly before 10pm on 5 September in Kirkstall Gardens, Streatham Hill, London.

His car was hemmed in by two police cars in a residential street before one round was fired from a police weapon.

Kaba later died in hospital.

The Met said Kaba’s car was stopped by a specialist firearms officer following the activation of an automatic number plate recognition camera, which indicated the car had been “linked to a firearms offence in the previous days”.

However, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which launched a homicide investigation shortly after his death, said that no “non-police issue firearm” had been found following a search of the car and surrounding area.

Kaba’s death sparked outrage across the country as many demand answers and seek justice. 

In a statement released through charity Inquest in 2022, Kaba’s family said they are “worried” he would still be alive had he “not been Black”.

The statement read: “We are devastated; we need answers and we need accountability. We are worried that if Chris had not been Black, he would have been arrested… and not had his life cut short.”

Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, said: “When the police kill, they must be held accountable to the rule of law. Inquest fully supports the family’s call for this to be a criminal investigation from the outset. It is essential that fatal use of force by police is examined with this high level of scrutiny.

“There is rightly anger and frustration at yet another Black man whose life has been cut short after the use of lethal force by police. Too often we see misinformation and demonisation of those who die. We hope this is not repeated here, as family and friends mourn the loss of a loved one.”

In a statement released in 2022, assistant commissioner Amanda Pearson said the Met is “co-operating fully as the IOPC work to independently establish the full circumstances surrounding the shooting”.

In 2022, thousands took to the streets of London to call for justice, with crowds gathering outside the Met police headquarters at Scotland Yard.

Speakers at the protests included MPs such as Diane Abbott and Stormzy, who encouraged everyone to “have stamina”.

“Chris has a mother, he has a family, he has brothers, he has friends, people who knew him in real life, who for them, it’s unbearable,” he said.

“Everyone here today, I would encourage everyone to have stamina. And I know it’s a very difficult thing to say… But when these people do these things, they get away with it, because what happens is we do this once, we get tired, we tweet, we get tired, we do it for a week, we do it for two weeks, we do it for a month, and they know we get tired.”

“What they’ve done is they’ve killed someone. We can’t sugar coat it.”

Images: Getty