Man shot dead in police chase in south London is named

A man shot dead by police after a car chase in south London has been named.

Chris Kaba, who was in his 20s, died in hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning after being shot at about 10pm in Kirkstall Gardens in Streatham Hill.

Metropolitan Police officers said they used a tactic where they deliberately crash into a car in an attempt to bring the chase to an end in the residential street.

Local residents reported hearing gunshots and the police helicopter hovering overhead.

Friends gathered at the scene of the shooting on Tuesday, questioning whether the man who was shot had been carrying a gun.

Police said Mr Kaba received first aid from officers at the scene before being taken to hospital, but he died at 12.16am.

A 39-year-old man, who lives on nearby New Park Road and asked not to be named, told the PA news agency: “The (driver) drove up New Park Road and turned up Kirkstall Gardens.

“A police car came down Kirkstall Gardens and crashed into him.

“Another police car came in behind him and they had him locked in at the bottom of Kirkstall Gardens.

“The car was immobile when he was shot.”

Another witness told the Evening Standard that the man who was shot, driving an Audi, tried to ram his way past the police cars.

Cordons are in place on Kirkstall Gardens and New Park Road, with a forensic tent put up and officers gathering evidence at the scene.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police watchdog, said it declared an independent investigation shortly before midnight, as is standard after a police shooting, and investigators were sent to the scene.

The regulator said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with all of those affected by this terrible incident.

“Our investigation remains in the very early stages.”