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'No wrongdoing' in Birmingham police shooting | 'No wrongdoing' in Birmingham police shooting |
(32 minutes later) | |
Police who shot a former gangster in the chest "acted in line with policy" and will face no further action, an investigation has found. | |
Sharif Cousins was placed in an induced coma for weeks after being shot by a West Midlands Police officer in July 2017. | |
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said officers had feared he was reaching for a gun. | |
Mr Cousins said he was "unsurprised" by the findings. | |
He claims his hands were raised at the time he was shot. | |
Investigators reviewed body-worn footage from armed officers deployed to Hereford Close in Rubery, Birmingham. | |
They were acting on intelligence reports of a gun and ammunition. | |
Mr Cousins was confronted by officers in an alleyway with Jamael Scarlett, who was later jailed for drugs and firearms offences. | Mr Cousins was confronted by officers in an alleyway with Jamael Scarlett, who was later jailed for drugs and firearms offences. |
In the footage, the IOPC found Mr Cousins "did not immediately comply" with an officer's command to raise his hands. | In the footage, the IOPC found Mr Cousins "did not immediately comply" with an officer's command to raise his hands. |
He then "appeared to be reaching behind his back", the report said, which led the officer to suspect he was reaching for a firearm concealed in his trousers. | He then "appeared to be reaching behind his back", the report said, which led the officer to suspect he was reaching for a firearm concealed in his trousers. |
"In our view the officer concerned believed that there was an immediate and genuine risk posed to him, and his colleague, when he made the split-second decision to shoot," IOPC Regional Director Derrick Campbell said. | |
Mr Cousins, an ex-gang member turned youth worker, was unarmed when he was shot once in the chest and spent three weeks in a coma before recovering. | |
No charges were brought against him in connection with the night of the shooting. | No charges were brought against him in connection with the night of the shooting. |
In March 2018, he announced he was planning to take legal action against West Midlands Police, saying the force had targeted him, denied him first aid and mistreated him. | |
The IOPC said the evidence it gathered "did not uphold" his complaints. | |
Its findings had been finalised by the time Mr Cousins announced his intentions, but the watchdog waited a year before publishing its results because of "sensitive police operational details". | |
Speaking following the release of the report, Mr Cousins disputed some of its findings and said he would continue to "fight for my truth and my rights". | |
'Super-high medication' | 'Super-high medication' |
He said he had PTSD and was still recovering mentally from the effects of the shooting. | |
"My mind is stuck on a certain time frame and can't get past it, basically I just don't like going outside the house," he said. | "My mind is stuck on a certain time frame and can't get past it, basically I just don't like going outside the house," he said. |
"I am on super-high medication just [to] cope with day-to-day life. | |
"It is hard, but what gets me through it is my family and my kids. | "It is hard, but what gets me through it is my family and my kids. |
"At the end of day, I know I made lot of silly decisions in life when I was younger, a lot of them I'm paying for now I'm older. If I could take [it] all back and repeat I would, I was young and childish, but it shouldn't really be hanging over me all of my life." | |
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone. | Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone. |