Police marksman who killed London Bridge terrorist ‘feared suicide blast’

A police marksman who feared a suicide vest blast repeatedly shot a prone London Bridge terrorist after he “made a significant movement” to get up, an inquest has heard.

The Metropolitan Police officer, identified only as BY5, said he thought Khuram Butt was going to trigger an explosive belt while members of the public and police were in the blast radius.

The firearms officer, who had 11 months’ experience in the role at the time of the attacks, told the Old Bailey about the moment he came on the scene at Stoney Street.

He said: “He (Butt) was sort of laying face down. Immediately I was concerned that I was within the blast radius of the device.

“He made a significant movement trying to get up from the prone posture.

“He was coming up off the floor, he appeared to be pushing himself up.

“I believe I was shouting at him to remain still. I was shouting at the top of my lungs repeatedly.

“Unfortunately he’s still moving so I took a number of shots in his direction.

“I believed he was going to try to detonate the device around his body.”

The marksman, who shot three rounds, added: “I fired until he stopped moving.”

The terrorists were killed by firearms officers in a hail of gunfire, with one stray bullet hitting and injuring pub-goer Neil McLelland in the head.

The inquest has heard Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were in “attacking mode” when they ran towards armed officers on the evening of June 3 2017.