Chris Kaba
(Picture: PA Media)The car driven by Chris Kaba collided with police vehicles in the incident when he was shot, a court has heard.
The construction worker and rapper, 24, was unarmed when he was shot in the head by a Metropolitan Police officer in Streatham Hill during a car stop.
The vehicle he was driving had been linked to a firearms incident the previous day, leading to it being tailed by police and then eventually stopped, Southwark coroner’s court heard.
The opening of the inquest into Mr Kaba’s death on Tuesday heard the fatal shot was fired through the windscreen, during an attempt to extract him from the Audi.
Dean Brown, from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), told the hearing: “Armed officers exited the vehicle and approached the Audi driven by Mr Kaba.
“The evidence suggests contact was made between the Audi driven by Mr Kaba and police vehicles.
“The evidence further suggests (the officer) was stood in front of Mr Kaba’s vehicle.”
He said: “A single shot was fired, piercing the front windscreen of the vehicle Mr Kaba was driving, striking him.”
Efforts were made to revive Mr Kaba at the scene of the shooting on September 5, but he died in hospital early the following day.
The Metropolitan Police officer who pulled the trigger, who has not been named, has been suspended from duty while a homicide invesitgation – led by the IOPC – is underway.
Mr Brown told the court police officers had been briefed about the suspect Audi before they started their shift that day, but Mr Kaba’s name “was not included in this briefing”.
“The Audi Mr Kaba was driving was believed to be linked to a firearms incident which took place the previous day,” he said.
The car was spotted by Automatic Number Plate Recognition, prompting police officers to start following the vehicle at 9.52pm, the court heard.
Mr Brown said the officers did not activate their sirens or lights and at 10.07pm the car Mr Kaba was driving turned into a quiet residential road where another marked police vehicle was already waiting.
“As Mr Kaba made a left turn, the decision was made to perform an extraction”, he said.
After the shooting, witnesses reported seeing Mr Kaba attempting to ram his way free before he was shot.
Senior Coroner Andrew Harris adjourned the inquest for further investigations, which will run in parallel with the IOPC homicide investigation due to last up to nine months.
Members of Mr Kaba’s family were in court for Tuesday’s hearing, including his parents, brother, and uncle.
In a statement after the hearing, Mr Kaba’s cousin Jefferson Bosela said the firearms officer should be questioned under caution, there should be a swift charging decision from the Crown Prosecution Service, and the family should be kept fully informed as the investigation progresses.
“Today’s hearing was another step in achieving justice for Chris”, he said.
“We need answers. Not just this family, but the whole of London – the whole of the country - needs to know how something like this could occur?
“How can a young man, sitting in a car, unarmed, be shot in the head by police in London in 2022?
“This should never have happened. It must never happen again. We must never accept this as normal. Someone must be held accountable.”
