Killing of Matiu Ratana

Ratana was born in the Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand and was of Māori descent. He moved to England in 1989, working for the Metropolitan Police for nearly 30 years.[1] Ratana had also served with New Zealand Police joining the British High Commission Wing in 2003 and serving in the Auckland City and Counties Manukau police districts before returning to the UK in 2008.[2]

On the morning of 25 September 2020, a 23-year-old man was arrested for drugs offences and possession of ammunition and taken to the Croydon Custody Centre in a police vehicle.[3] Approaching the suspect to carry-out a temperature check for COVID-19 infection, Ratana was shot in the chest.[4] He was taken to hospital, where he died from gunshot wounds. The suspect was also shot and taken to hospital with critical injuries. There is speculation that he shot himself, but this has not been confirmed. No police firearms were discharged during the incident. A non-police firearm, which appears to be a revolver, was recovered from the scene. The suspect was in handcuffs during the incident, with his hands behind his back.

The background of the suspect is being investigated by authorities. The suspect had previously been referred to the Prevent programme, an anti-extremism programme developed by the government in an attempt to prevent individuals from joining extremist groups and carrying out terrorist activities.[1] Several crime scenes were established, a cordon was put in place around the Anderson Heights block of flats in Norbury, and a controlled explosion took place in one of the crime scenes in Banstead, Surrey.[5]

The suspect, aged 23, was arrested on 13 November 2020 on suspicion of murdering a police officer, when he was considered well enough though still requiring hospital treatment.[6]

• List of British police officers killed in the line of duty