From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] GUNMAN LAWFULLY KILLED, INQUEST JURY RULES 091527 AUG 00 By Julie Wheldon, PA News A former soldier who was shot dead by police after repeatedly aiming an air rifle at officers was lawfully killed, an inquest found today. Antony Kitts, 20, pointed an airgun resembling a .22 calibre rifle at unarmed police officers on the outskirts of Falmouth, Cornwall. An inquest heard Mr Kitts also aimed the gun at two marksmen even after they shouted several times: "Armed police, put your weapon down." During the hearing at Truro both armed response officers were granted anonymity by the coroner and gave their evidence from beind screens. Officer A said that in the early hours of April 10 last year he was certain Mr Kitts was carrying a sniper rifle. The officer, who broke down while reading his statement, said he fired at Mr Kitts because he believed he was about to be shot at. Mr Kitts, of Old Hill Crescent, Falmouth, suffered massive injuries from a single soft-tipped bullet and the cause of death was given as a high velocity gunshot wound to the chest. At the end of the eight-day long inquest a jury of seven women and two men took just under two hours to return a verdict of lawful killing. The foreman said: "The deceased adopted an aggressive demeanour towards officers and failed to respond to demands to put down his firearm." As the verdict was given Mr Kitts' mother Diana wept and after the inquest said she still had to live with the nightmare every day. She said: "There are two sides to every story and all we have heard is the police side. Antony is the only other person who can say what really happened that night and he is dead." Her solicitor Tina Salvidge said questions still remained unanswered and the family was still considering what further legal action could be taken. "We remain concerned at the apparent lack of police organisation in an incident of this nature," she said. "We are still of the view that if the police had exercised more caution in their approach to Antony, there would have been no reason to shoot and he would have still been with his family today." At a press conference after the inquest, Ian Latimer, Assistant Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, said the verdict had vindicated the actions of all the officers involved. He said: "We deeply regret the death of Antony Kitts, whose family have undoubtedly suffered a terrible ordeal. We are convinced however that given the circumstances our officers could not have acted differently." He defended the use of the soft-tipped bullets, which do not pass through the body and so cause more internal damage than a solid bullet. The ammunition was used by other forces and complied with Home Office guidelines. Mr Latimer added that the case had again highlighted the problems faced by police when dealing with people brandishing air weapons. "These types of weapons can expel a missile with lethal force and like imitation firearms look exactly like the real thing," he said. Falmouth and Camborne MP Candy Atherton said the whole incident had been a "tragedy" and she would be seeking a ministerial meeting about imitation firearms. Ms Atherton said: "I think the whole issue needs to be addressed at a national level and I know police locally feel the same way." -- It wasn't an imitation firearm! Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
