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Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist Usman Khan was shot at 20 times by armed police before he finally died on London Bridge following his bloody rampage which killed two young people, an inquest heard.
Dramatic police body-worn camera footage and videos captured by horrified members of the public on their mobile phones showed 28-year-old Khan being shot twice at close range by a firearms officer after it was discovered he was wearing a suicide belt which later turned out to be a hoax.
Khan was shot as he put his left arm down on the floor in order to begin standing up having been restrained by members of the public, but was felled by two shots fired roughly a second apart, again forcing him to the ground.
Khan, from Stafford, was then seen trying to get his large coat – which he had used to conceal the fake explosive device – above his head.
No shots were fired by any of the officers called to the scene until Khan again started to get up, just under 10 minutes later.
Body-worn footage from a police camera heard a firearms officer refer to the suicide vest, saying: “It’s all taped up, there’s wires.”
Khan then sat up for 13 seconds during which at least nine fresh shots were fired at him.
Video footage appeared to show Khan staring at police before these shots were fired.
He then touched his head and fell onto his back with his legs outstretched before then writhing around and breathing deeply.
Khan was later seen moving his knee off the ground, and later his left arm.
A firearms officer could be heard saying: “We’ve got the suspect, he’s on the bridge. Come on boys, this is it.”
In all, 20 shots were fired, as well as a Taser, by six officers, according to evidence given at Khan’s inquest by Detective Chief Inspector Dan Brown, who led the investigation into the atrocity.
Khan had stopped moving by 2.12pm, around 15 minutes after he began his stabbing spree which resulted in the deaths of Cambridge University graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at a prisoner education event inside Fishmongers’ Hall to which Khan was invited, on November 29 2019.
He was pronounced dead at 3.07pm after the scene was made safe.
Mr Brown said police believe Khan shouted “Allahu Akbar” during their confrontation with him, including moments before he was first shot and when they ordered him to stay on the floor.
Footage also showed members of the public running to safety as Khan emerged from Fishmongers’ Hall branding two kitchen knives.
This included a woman with a young child who ran into the path of oncoming traffic to make good her escape while a man with a pushchair could be seen walking away from the scene just as Khan made his way onto the bridge.
Tuesday’s evidence follows the conclusion of the inquests into Mr Merritt and Ms Jones last week, in which jurors identified a catalogue of failures and omissions contributed to the deaths.
Khan struck 11 months after being released from prison for plotting a jihadi training camp in Pakistan.
He had served eight years in prison when he was released into the community under licence.
He had met Mr Merritt through Learning Together, a Cambridge University-affiliated education programme for prisoners during his time in jail.
The inquest jury heard he travelled down to London, unaccompanied, on the day of the attack and secreted himself in a toilet cubicle before emerging to stab Mr Merritt, Ms Jones and three others who survived the ordeal.
Khan was later pursued by three men who used a fire extinguisher, a narwhal tusk and their bare hands to restrain him on London Bridge.
The inquest, held at the Guildhall in the City of London, is due to last for two weeks.