Published Article

HeadlineFishmongers’ Hall officer: ‘I saw bomb and feared we’d all die’

Short HeadlineFishmongers’ Hall inquest: officer gives testimony

StandfirstThe armed officer who shot Usman Khan, told the inquest into his death why he shot the attacker.

The armed police officer who shot and killed Usman Khan after the Fishmongers’ Hall attack, has told the inquest into Khan’s death he “thought we were all going to die.”

Usman Khan stabbed Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones to death at a prisoner education event at Fishmongers’ Hall in 2019.

The officer, only known as WS5, told the inquest that he came face to face with Khan as bystanders pinned him to the floor.

WS5 told the inquest, “I got myself involved, started to pull people off and noticed an IED on Khan on the floor.”

“If you’d seen films you would have believed it was a viable device – various packages of cigarette packet size, tape, wires coming out.

“To me, it looked viable and real”, he added.

‘I didn’t think I was going home’

WS5 continued, “If I’m honest, I didn’t think I was going home.

“When I was in his face, in his personal space, I remember him shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ (meaning ‘God is greatest’) at me.

“At that point I thought ‘That’s it, I’m not going home to see my family or my friends either’”, he said.

WS5 pulled bystander Darryn Frost off Khan before two colleagues fired a Taser and two shots.

Khan remained prone on the ground for eight minutes before he began to sit up. At which point WS5 and colleagues opened fire.

WS5 said, “I remember in disbelief he kind of sat up, which threw me and us all, how he’s still moving around and sitting up.”

It was at this point that WS5 opened fire.

He said, “I remember taking various shots.

“I looked through my sight, it went to his forehead.

“He (Khan) put his hand to his head in disbelief and so I went for central body mass.”

Khan was pronounced dead an hour later, after the scene had been made safe.

The IED was later found to be fake.

The inquest continues.