U.K. rapper Chris Kaba was not a suspect nor was he being chased by cops, but was being followed by an unmarked police car without lights and sirens when he was fatally shot by a police officer, an inquest into his death has been told.
The unarmed father-to-be was killed on September 5 by a single shot to the head. An unidentified firearms officer, referred to in the investigation as officer NX121, fired the round. Chris Kaba was 24 years old.
Despite London’s Metropolitan Police initially reporting that Kaba was shot “after a vehicle pursuit,” the police watchdog made no mention of this in their statement to Southwark coroner’s court on Tuesday (Oct. 4).
Police Watchdog Speak At Inquest Into The Death of Chris Kaba
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the shooting of Kaba, a member of U.K. drill rap group 67. Their lead investigator, Dean Brown, read a summary of the incident at the inquest.
He confirmed Chris Kaba was not a suspect when cops followed him without deploying lights or sirens. While officers had been briefed earlier that night to look out for the Audi, potentially associated with a firearm incident from the previous day, “Mr Kaba’s name was not included in this briefing.”
After being followed for approximately 15 minutes, cops decided to” perform an inline extraction.” Then, armed police exited their vehicles and approached the Audi driven by Chris Kaba.
“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.”
Cops at the scene provided first aid, but Chris Kaba sadly died later that night in hospital.
The IOPC confirmed officer NX121 has been suspended from duty and is under criminal investigation for murder. No one has been charged with homicide at this time. The “extensive and ongoing” investigation is expected to take six to nine months to complete.
Stormzy Joins Protests
Protests erupted all over the U.K., with citizens taking to the streets to peacefully demand justice for the family of Chris Kaba. Fellow rapper Stormzy was among the protestors marching last month.
Kaba’s cousin Jefferson Bosela spoke outside the inquest on Tuesday. “Officers must be interviewed under caution immediately. We have been told that after nearly a month, neither the officer who killed Chris or any of the other officers involved have been interviewed under caution.”
He also called on the Crown Prosecution Service to urgently make a charging decision. Bosela said a swift decision is “critical for this family,” and others “to have faith in the system that is supposed to bring them justice.”
Bosela added: “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.”
He concluded: “We will not rest until the people responsible for Chris’s death are held fully accountable.” Watch his remarks in full below.
AllHipHop.com stands with the family of Chris Kaba as they seek justice for their loved one, and against any senseless police-involved violence, specifically against Black and Brown people.