Investigators have begun trying to find out how a suspected armed robber ended up being shot in a Brighton street yesterday.
The victim died after being shot by Sussex Police officers in Rock Place in Kemp Town just after 1pm.
He is widely believed to be the suspect in a series of armed robberies in the area over the past few months.
These include the post office robberies in Melville Road and Western Road in Hove.
He has been unofficially named as Michael Fitzpatrick and is said to be in his forties.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) issued the following statement early yesterday evening: “The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is independently investigating the fatal shooting of a man by police in Sussex.
“Armed officers were deployed to the Kemp Town area of Brighton at around lunchtime today, Thursday 10 February 2011, as part of a pre-planned operation in relation to a number of armed robberies in the Sussex area.
“Just after 1pm this afternoon, a man was shot in Rock Place, Brighton.
“He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.
“What appears to be a black handgun has been found at the scene.
“This will now be examined to establish whether it is real or an imitation weapon and whether it had been fired.”
IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin said: “IPCC investigators are currently in Sussex carrying out inquiries to establish exactly what happened in this case.
“This will involve taking initial accounts from those officers involved to establish which officer or officers fired and why, as well as identifying evidence on police systems such as incident logs and radio transmissions.
“We will be working to identify independent witnesses who saw any part of today’s incident as it unfolded, as well as to gather CCTV in the area which may have captured events.
“Our investigators will also look at the pre-planning of the operation itself.”
The IPCC said: “The man has not yet been formally identified.
“Anybody who witnessed the shooting is asked to contact the IPCC on 08000 969075 or email brightonshooting@ipcc.gsi.gov.uk.
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