Community leaders in Tottenham were today hoping to meet senior Met officers in a bid to defuse tensions over the police shooting of a suspected gangster.
A firearms officer was suspended yesterday as a “homicide” inquiry was launched into the shooting.
Jermaine Baker, 28, a suspected gang member from Tottenham, died from a single gunshot wound during the police operation near Wood Green crown court on Friday.
In a highly unusual move the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced yesterday it had launched the “homicide” inquiry. This could see the police face murder or manslaughter charges.
Baker, said to be a member of a prominent gang, was shot once in the stomach during an alleged attempt to spring two convicts from a prison van.
He was said to have known gangster Mark Duggan, 29, who was shot dead by police in an incident that sparked the 2011 riots.
A public meeting to discuss the latest shooting was said to be planned for this evening but there were doubts early today that it was going ahead. Both the IPPC and the Met said they would attend.
There were also reported concerns that firearms officers in the operation that led to Mr Baker’s death were not wearing body cameras, despite pledges that they would be equipped with them.
However, sources pointed out that the specialist officers engaged in undercover operations were not equipped with body-worn video cameras because they could identify them.
In a statement the IPCC said: “The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched a homicide investigation into Mr Baker’s death. The launch of a criminal investigation does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow.”
The Met said it had agreed to the IPCC suggestion that the firearms officer is suspended.
In a statement, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Terry, of the Met’s Specialist Crime and Operations unit, said: “The exact circumstances that led to Mr Baker’s death must be thoroughly and independently examined.
"That is the role of the IPCC. It is only through establishing the full facts, as quickly as possible, as to what took place that day that the best interests of justice and of all those affected can be served.
"All of our firearms officers, who are all volunteers, do a job that is difficult and often dangerous. They all fully understand, quite rightly, that they will need to account for their actions if they use lethal force.”
Four men were remanded in custody yesterday in connection with the alleged plot to free the two convicts from a prison van.
Ozcan Eren, 31, of Wood Green and Eren Hasyer, 25, of, Enfield, were charged with conspiracy to aid the escape.
Nathan Mason, 30, and Gokay Sogucakli, 18, both of Tottenham, face the same charge, as well as possessing an imitation firearm and using a motor vehicle taken without the owner’s consent.
