Man wrongly shot dead by UK police was Brazilian

LONDON - British police have acknowledged that a man they shot dead in a London underground station on Friday was unconnected to bomb attacks on the city the previous day, calling the shooting tragic and regrettable.

The dead man was named as Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian who had lived in London for the past three years and worked as an electrician.

"We are now satisfied that he was not connected with the incidents of Thursday 21st July 2005," a police statement said.

"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."


Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim demanded clarification from Britain about the shooting.


Police hunting four men who tried to bomb London's transport system on Thursday -- two weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 commuters -- chased and fatally shot the man who had been under surveillance and refused orders to halt.

The killing at point-blank range with five shots to the head in front of shocked passengers on a packed underground train triggered speculation of a radical change of tactics by traditionally unarmed British police.

"The man emerged from a house in Tulse Hill that was itself under observation because it was linked to the investigation on Thursday 21st July," police said.

That amended an earlier version of the statement, which had said the man emerged from an apartment block in Stockwell, close to the station where he was shot. Tulse Hill is another district of south London.

"He was then followed by surveillance officers to the underground station. His clothing and behaviour added to their suspicions," the statement said.

It added that the circumstances that led to the man's death were being investigated.

The killing had already been condemned by Muslim groups, who expressed shock at the mistake.

"To give licence to people to shoot to kill just like that, on the basis of suspicion, is very frightening," Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Assocation of Britain told BBC television.

"It is human lives that are being targeted here, whether by terrorists or in this case unfortunately by people who are supposed to be chasing or catching the terrorists."

Former Scotland Yard commander John O'Connor told the BBC: "It is a shocking incident, and I think the consequences may be graver if he turns out to be a young Muslim."

- REUTERS