Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 47,703
Thanks: 27,653
Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts
|
Re: UK Police Officer Shot Dead in Station by Man in Custody
Croydon UK Shooting: Suspect in Killing of Sgt Matt Ratana Named as Louis De Zoysa
Officer Shot Dead in Station by Man Held in Custody
Louis De Zoysa, the suspect in the killing of Met Police Sergeant Matt Ratana, remains in a critical condition in hospital and police said they have not yet been able to speak to him as part of the murder investigation
Daily Mirror UK, 29 SEP 2020.
The suspect in the killing of a veteran Metropolitan Police sergeant has been named as Louis De Zoysa.
The 23-year-old, who is thought to have shot himself, remains in a critical condition in hospital, and police said they have not yet been able to speak to him as part of the murder investigation.
It is claimed he was revived by doctors after 'dying' in hospital.
Sergeant Matiu (Matt) Ratana, 54, was fatally shot by a handcuffed suspect in the early hours of Friday at a police station in Croydon, south London.
It is said the officer, who was preparing for retirement, was planning to propose to girlfriend Sue Bushby, 44, after “six wonderful years” together. He is also survived by an adult son.
Louis De Zoysa, pictured blowing out birthday candles in 2017, is thought to have shot himself
A man has been arrested on suspicion of supplying a firearm in connection with the murder investigation. He was arrested at around 2am of Sunday in Norwich, Norfolk.
Searches in Pollards Hill, Norbury, where the suspect was initially arrested by officers for possession of ammunition and possession of class B drugs on Friday, have finished, police said.
Other searches are taking place at the suspect's home in Norbury in south London, and an address on Park Road, Banstead in Surrey, as well as forensic examinations on the custody suite where the incident unfolded in Croydon Custody Centre at about 2.15am on Friday.
Sergeant Matt Ratana, 54, and his partner Sue Bushby, 44 (Image: pixel8000)
Flowers and other tributes outside the Croydon Custody Centre in south London (Image: Tim Merry)
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which attended the scene after the shooting, said the murder suspect had been taken into the building and sat in a holding area in the custody suite, then opened fire while still in handcuffs as officers prepared to search him with a metal detector.
He had earlier been arrested following a stop and search, then handcuffed behind his back before being taken to the station in a police vehicle.
No police firearms were fired in the incident, and the case is not being treated as terror-related.
The suspect, from Norbury, is said to have 'died' in hospital before being revived by medics, the Sun reported.
Sergeant Ratana was originally from New Zealand and joined the Met in 1991. He was previously a protection officer to Princess Diana, the Queen Mother and ex-Prime Minister John Major.
The officer, who lived in Worthing, West Sussex, and was head coach for East Grinstead Rugby Club, was 300 yards from an IRA bomb that went off outside 10 Downing Street in 1992.
Police at Courtlands Farm in Banstead, Surrey, where officers carried out searches (Image: PA)
Forensic offices search bushes outside a block of flats in Pollards Hill (Image: PA)
Sue’s heartbroken mum Penelope said Matt had been by her daughter's side all the time and had been a source of strength for her after she lost her father Roy earlier this year.
Mrs Bushby, 81, told the Sun: “He was a very lovely man. He loved my daughter and she loved him back. He couldn’t do enough for us or anybody who needed help."
Leading tributes to fallen officers on National Police Memorial Day (NPMD), Prince Charles said the fatal shooting is the "latest heartbreaking evidence" of the daily risks officers face.
He said such deaths are "losses we can never replace, sacrifices we can never repay".
What crimes have been reported in your neighbourhood? Check with In Your Area.
Addressing the annual memorial service in a video message, the Prince of Wales said: "The dreadful incident in Croydon on Friday is the latest heartbreaking evidence of the risks faced by our officers daily.
"I would like to send my deepest sympathy to the families of each of these officers who have given their lives.
"These are losses we can never replace, sacrifices we can never repay, but of which, as a society, we can only strive to be worthy."
Also on Sunday, Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick paid tribute to Sergeant Ratana as an "extraordinary person" who was "very good at his job".
Sergeant Ratana is the eighth police officer in the UK to be shot dead in the last 20 years (Image: pixel8000)
She spoke after a morning wreath-laying at the National Police Memorial in central London, which was also attended by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary Priti Patel to mark NPMD.
Dame Cressida said Sergeant Ratana's death might give people an insight into the dangers and risks officers face.
She said: "If some good can come out of this terrible incident in which we have had one of our officers murdered, it would be that more people can understand a little bit about the challenges of police work and to see us police as who we are - human beings, going to work to help people, to support people and to protect people.
"Matt was the epitome of that."
Sergeant Ratana is the eighth police officer in the UK to be shot dead in the last 20 years and the first to be murdered by a firearm in the line of duty since PCs Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, in September 2012.
The Met sergeant is the 17th from the force to be killed by a firearm since the end of the Second World War, according to the National Police Memorial roll of honour.
RIP Sergeant Ratana
|