A retired firearms officer who shot dead an innocent electrician mistaken for a suicide bomber has issued an apology to his grieving family.
Almost two decades after the tragedy, one of the two marksmen who killed Jean Charles de Menezes has spoken publicly about the shocking murder for the first time.
The 27-year-old was shot dead in the head by two officers at London’s Stockwell station on July 22, 2005 having been wrongly identified as failed July 21 bomber Hussan Osman in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings.
Now, in an emotional statement, one of his killers has expressed how he wishes to say ‘sorry’ to Mr Menezes’ family, adding that he ‘would do anything to roll back time, to have a different set of circumstances where that didn’t happen’.
Speaking in a four-part Netflix documentary set to be released next week, the policeman, codenamed C2, reflected on the tragedy, adding: ‘By the time I got home I was aware there was speculation regarding the identity of the person I had killed. I didn’t get any sleep, and I still had massive tinnitus, a very, very loud ringing in my ears.
‘The next day I caught the tube back to work and I was called into the chief superintendent’s office. He told me that the man I shot was completely innocent. I can’t describe how I felt, the worst feeling ever, I killed an innocent man’.
The firearm officers, who had only been given a ‘ten-second glimpse’ of the real target prior to the botched operation, had tracked Mr Menezes down while he was on his way to work.
The electrician had been wrongly identified by surveillance teams as Osman as he lived in the same block of flats in Tulse Hill, south London.
After being given the go-ahead by bosses for armed deployment, Mr Menezes was shot seven times in the head at point-blank range in a packed carriage during the morning rush hour.
All 17 eyewitnesses confirmed that he had not behaved aggressively or suspiciously and made no attempt to flee police.
But initial reports wrongly claimed he had vaulted station barriers while wearing a bulky jacket, fuelling assumptions he was a threat.
C2, who shot dead the innocent man with six bullets after his colleague initially opened fire, said that he ‘accepts responsibility’ for the tragic murder, but questioned ‘why were we in that position?’ in the first place.
Calling on those who instructed him to shoot Mr Menezes to acknowledge their role in the tragedy, he added: ‘Those people in command put me in that position, they also have to answer’.
Meanwhile, the other firearms officer involved, named only by his cypher C12, reflected on the awful incident during a Channel 4 documentary released late last year.
The former officer choked back tears as he described the moment he first pulled the trigger while on the stationary train.
He said: ‘He (Mr Menezes) just got up and immediately turned to his right, which is where we were, and came towards us.
‘At the same time I brought my weapon up and pointed it at his head and I shouted ‘armed police.
‘At that stage in my head, this person knew who we were. This person was coming forward in order to detonate a bomb and kill us.’
C12 said he had suffered in the two decades after the shooting, with the trauma remaining a ‘weeping sore’ on his life.
For Mr Menezes’ heartbroken family, there is no apology or remorse that could help relieve the pain of their loss nearly 20 years on.
The young man’s two cousins, Patricia Da Silva Armani and Vivian Figueiredo, who were sharing a flat with him at the time of his death, acutely remember the agony of finding out he had been wrongfully killed.
Ms Figuieredo, who realised Mr Menezes had not come home that night, had initially been told that he had been arrested due to being suspected of terrorism.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: ‘I was shocked. But I also had hope. It was just a matter of going to the police to clarify everything.’
But the reality was to be far worse. The pair were then taken to a police station, alongside their two other cousins, Alex Alves Pereira and Alessandro Pereira, where they were later told of the devastating tragedy.
Ms Armani, who had last seen her beloved cousin just two days prior, said: ‘My English wasn’t great and I didn’t understand a lot of what they were saying. I only understand the last part – “He is dead”. Still, I didn’t think I heard right.
‘I went into total despair. Everyone was crying and screaming.’
Despite the family’s pursuit of legal action, no officers were charged for Mr Menezes’ murder, although the Metropolitan Police was found guilty of health and safety failures.
After an inquest into the death returned an open verdict, the force was fined £175,000 over the botched operation and the de Menezes family agreed an undisclosed settlement in 2009.
Ms Figueiredo, who said that her ‘whole world fell apart’ when Mr Menezes was killed, described her cousin as a ‘happy person’ and an ‘extrovert’ that simply ‘wanted to help people and make his family proud’.
She added: ‘I remember him all the time but especially at times when I wished he were still here, like when my daughter was born. He’ll never be forgotten’.
Meanwhile, Mr Menezes’ 80-year-old mother Maria previously told the Mirror that she has made peace with the officers who took her son’s life.
Speaking from her home in Brazil, she said: ‘I forgive, but I cannot accept what they have done because they destroyed my son’s life.
‘But I’ve come to realise that I don’t want to keep this hatred inside my heart. I believe those people who made the mistakes will pay for it somehow.
‘They have souls, and I have entrusted it to God, as to what will happen to them. But I don’t want this hatred for myself anymore, because I don’t want this to destroy me.’
In a previous statement the Metropolitan Police said that the tragedy occurred ‘at a time of unprecedented terrorist threat to London’.
‘No officer sets out intent on ending a life. Our sole purpose is the protection and preservation of life, and we have taken extensive action to address the causes of this tragedy.
‘Our thoughts remain with his family and we reiterate our apology to them.’
