A firearm has been found in the vehicle a man had been travelling in before he was shot dead by police, investigators have confirmed.
Yassar Yaqub, 28, died at the scene of an operation in response to “information received about criminal possession of a firearm” near the M62 in West Yorkshire at around 6pm on Monday, West Yorkshire Police said.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating and said on Tuesday that it had found “what appears to be non-police issue firearm in the vehicle in which Mr Yaqub was travelling”.
A police spokesperson said: “The operation related to information received about criminal possession of a firearm, as a result of which vehicles were stopped at two separate locations.”
The force said it was “fully co-operating” with the watchdog’s investigators. Arrests were also made.
It added: “We can confirm that there were five arrests in total during the operation, three from the incident above and a further two from a related stop of another vehicle in the Chain Bar area of Bradford at about the same time.”
A statement from Yaqub’s family said: “Mr Yaqub’s family are in shock and are distraught. They would ask the media to respect their privacy at this difficult time,
“The family are fully aware that the incident that led to the death of Mr Yaqub is currently being investigated by the IPCC and they do not wish to make any further comment at this stage.”
On Tuesday evening, the IPCC issued an update on its investigation, saying: “After being notified by West Yorkshire Police, IPCC investigators went to the scene yesterday evening and attended police post incident procedures, and have been overseeing forensic examinations.
“Yassar Yaqub, aged 28 from Crosland Moor, was shot by a West Yorkshire Police firearms officer during a planned police operation at Junction 24 of the M62 motorway shortly after 6pm on Monday 2 January. He died at the scene.
“What appears to be a non-police issue firearm was discovered in the vehicle in which Mr Yaqub was travelling, and is being further examined.
“Mr Yaqub’s family has been informed and will be kept updated by an IPCC family liaison manager. A post mortem is due to take place tomorrow.”
IPCC Commissioner Derrick Campbell: “My thoughts are with Mr Yaqub’s family and all those affected at this difficult time.
“Though in its early stages, this investigation is making good progress but will be complex. We will be working hard to establish exactly what happened and would ask for patience while our investigation continues.”
Traffic is able to access the M62 eastbound at Junction 24, but all other slip roads are expected to remain closed for some time.
Action On Armed Violence (AOAV), a non-profit organisation that monitors the impact of armed violence, said that Monday’s fatal shooting brings the total number of people shot and killed by police in England and Wales to levels not seen for almost a decade.
Since the announcement in April last year that an additional 1,500 firearm officers will be trained in England and Wales, there have been five recorded deaths from police shootings, the group said.
“The last time such levels of killings were seen was when five people were shot and killed by police between May 2007 and December of that year.
“Six people died in police shooting incidents in 2006,” AOAV said in a statement.
“The decision to arm more police was taken last year without any hard evidence being presented to Parliament that more guns in the hands of police will make the British population safer,” said Iain Overton, AOAV’s executive director.
“While much of the training of these new officers has yet to be completed, we need to be absolutely clear that more armed policemen really do result in a safer Britain.”