Shock after a UK police officer shot dead a detained suspect in the custody center

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s police paid a silent tribute Friday and flags were flown at half mast after a longtime officer became the first to be shot and killed in the line of duty in more than eight years.

Sergeant Matiu Ratana, 54, was shot by a 23-year-old man at the Croydon Custody Center in South London around 2.15am (9.15am Singapore time) and died in hospital.

The suspect, who had been arrested for drug possession with the intention of supplying and possessing ammunition, pointed the gun at himself and was said to be in a critical but stable condition.

Ratana’s death is being treated as murder.

LEE: UK police officer shot dead by suspect detained in custody center

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said that Ratana, who came to Britain from New Zealand and was known as Matt, was “senselessly murdered”.

Originally from Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, he joined the Met in 1991 after college and spent almost 30 years as a uniformed officer in the British capital.

He played for the London Irish and the Force Rugby Union team, before becoming a coach at East Grinstead, near Croydon. Leaves a partner and an adult child from a previous relationship.

“As a colleague, he was of great stature and a big heart, a friendly and capable police officer,” said Dick.

“A charming man, highly respected by officers and staff, and by the public, including the suspects he arrested or treated in custody.

“He was well known locally and will be fondly remembered in Croydon, as well as the Met and the rugby world.”

Dick said the security camera and police body footage would be closely examined as part of the investigation, after media reports suggested the suspect may not have been fully searched prior to entering the custody room.

NATIONAL TRAGEDY

Many British police officers carry Taser stun guns but are not routinely armed, although forces have tactical firearms units to respond quickly to incidents.

According to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which sent investigators to the scene, the police did not fire firearms.

The suspect was handcuffed and apparently opened fire in the custody room with a revolver as officers prepared to search him, it added.

Service fatalities in Britain are rare and the shooting sent shockwaves through police forces across the country. The flags were lowered and the officers observed a minute of silence in Ratana’s memory.

His death came as the British government seeks to introduce harsher sentences for attacks on emergency services workers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered his “deepest condolences” to Ratana’s family, writing on Twitter that “we owe a great debt to those who risk their own lives to keep us safe.”

Surveillance Minister Kit Malthouse told parliament: “We ask our police officers to do an extraordinary job.

“The fact that one of them has fallen in the line of duty is a tragedy for the entire nation.”

Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes were the last British police officers shot to death in the line of duty, when they were ambushed in a pistol and grenade attack in September 2012.

They were killed by drug dealer Dale Cregan while responding to a report of a robbery in Manchester, north-west England.

Since then, another five officers have died on duty: four by vehicles while pursuing suspects and one, Keith Palmer, who was stabbed during a 2017 terror attack in parliament.

Ratana is the 17th Met officer to be killed by a firearm since the end of World War II, according to the National Police honor roll.