The unarmed father-to-be was killed by a single shot to the head fired by an officer referred to only as NX121, on 5 September, Southwark coroner’s court heard on Tuesday morning. The killer was officer is referred to only as NX121
In the aftermath of the incident, the Metropolitan police said Kaba had been shot “after a vehicle pursuit”. The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is investigating the shooting, made no mention of a chase in a summary of the incident read to the court.
The IOPC lead investigator, Dean Brown, confirmed the Audi that Kaba had been driving was “believed to be linked to a firearms incident which took place the previous day”. He told the inquest the Audi was followed and that no lights or sirens were used. He also said Kaba was not a suspect.
Brown told the court: “A briefing was provided to officers prior to their shifts on 5 September in which the Audi was brought to their attention as being potentially associated with the firearm incident from the previous day. Mr Kaba’s name was not included in this briefing.”
Officers sent a police radio message at about 9.53pm , stating that they were following the vehicle, the inquest heard. Brown said: “Officers continued to follow the Audi until 10.07pm. The officers did not activate their lights or sirens.”
Kaba made a left turn into Kirkstall Gardens in Streatham, where a marked police armed response vehicle was waiting occupied by officer NX121, Brown told the inquest.
He added: “Once Mr Kaba made the left turn the decision was taken to perform an inline extraction. Armed officers exited their vehicles and approached the Audi.
“The evidence suggests that contact was made between the Audi driven by Mr Kaba and the police vehicles.
“The evidence further suggests that officer NX121 was standing to the front of Mr Kaba’s vehicle. A single shot was fired by officer NX121 piercing the front windscreen of the vehicle Mr Kaba was driving.”
Brown added: “Officers at the scene provided first aid to Mr Kaba before he was taken to King’s College hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12.16am.”
The inquest heard that officer NX121, who has been suspended from duty, had been notified that they are under criminal investigation for the offence of the murder.
When the senior coroner Andrew Harris asked if anyone had been charged with homicide. Dean replied: “Not at this time.”
He said the investigation was “extensive and ongoing” and was expected to take six to nine months to complete. He added: “The investigation is still eager to hear from anyone who has not made contact to date who witnessed the incident.”