Family of slain Brazilian may sue British police

LONDON – The family of a Brazilian electrician who was mistaken for a terrorist and slain by British police threatened yesterday to take legal action, but a senior officer insisted the new threat posed by suicide bombers made deadly force a necessary option.

Police shot Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, in a subway car after mistaking him for a suspect in the investigation into Thursday’s botched bombing attempts on three subway trains and a bus. Officers later said he had no connection to the probe and expressed deep regret for his death.”They have to pay for that in many ways, because if they do not, they are going to kill many people,” his cousin Alex Pereira told British Broadcasting Corp.television.”They killed my cousin; they could kill anyone,” the 28-year-old London resident said.But Chris Fox, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said police had to have the option of using lethal force to stop suspected suicide bombers.”We have a series of tactics which range from disruption to the very, very final moment when you have to shoot, and the aim is to prevent the criminal or suspect causing harm to other people,” Fox told BBC TV.Menezes was followed by plainclothes officers after he left an apartment block that was under surveillance.Wearing a padded jacket, he boarded a bus and travelled to the nearby Stockwell subway station.According to officials, his clothing and behaviour aroused the suspicions of the police, who ordered him to stop.Witnesses said Menezes ran into a subway car, where officers shot him.It was unclear why Menezes, who spoke English, did not stop.Police on Sunday arrested a third suspected terrorist after Thursday’s failed attack against London’s transit system.The arrest came in the same south London neighbourhood where Menezes lived.Police were also looking into possible links between the bombers who took part in the July 7 attacks, which killed 52 people on three subway cars and a bus, and those involved in the failed July 21 bombings.- Nampa-APOfficers later said he had no connection to the probe and expressed deep regret for his death.”They have to pay for that in many ways, because if they do not, they are going to kill many people,” his cousin Alex Pereira told British Broadcasting Corp.television.”They killed my cousin; they could kill anyone,” the 28-year-old London resident said.But Chris Fox, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said police had to have the option of using lethal force to stop suspected suicide bombers.”We have a series of tactics which range from disruption to the very, very final moment when you have to shoot, and the aim is to prevent the criminal or suspect causing harm to other people,” Fox told BBC TV.Menezes was followed by plainclothes officers after he left an apartment block that was under surveillance.Wearing a padded jacket, he boarded a bus and travelled to the nearby Stockwell subway station.According to officials, his clothing and behaviour aroused the suspicions of the police, who ordered him to stop.Witnesses said Menezes ran into a subway car, where officers shot him.It was unclear why Menezes, who spoke English, did not stop.Police on Sunday arrested a third suspected terrorist after Thursday’s failed attack against London’s transit system.The arrest came in the same south London neighbourhood where Menezes lived.Police were also looking into possible links between the bombers who took part in the July 7 attacks, which killed 52 people on three subway cars and a bus, and those involved in the failed July 21 bombings.- Nampa-AP