Incident Overview

On September 5, 2022, an unarmed man named Chris Cabber was shot dead by a Metropolitan Police officer, Martin Blake, during a police operation in South London. The shooting followed a firearms incident report related to another incident that occurred in Brixton the previous evening, where two shots were fired and a suspect vehicle was identified. The police were aware of the license plate linked to this prior shooting and initiated a silent pursuit of Cabber's vehicle under suspicion, ultimately leading to a 17-second confrontation where Blake discharged his weapon, fatally hitting Cabber. The critical question that emerged from this case centers on the justification of using lethal force in scenarios involving unarmed individuals and the underlying tensions surrounding policing practices in the community.