A man shot dead by an armed officer at Milton Keynes train station had called police shortly before he died to report there was a man armed with a gun and acting dangerously, the police watchdog has said.
Investigators believe David Joyce, 38, wanted to die at the hands of police, the Guardian understands.
Armed with a knife he ran at police who arrived, and was shot by an officer who will claim to have acted in self-defence.
Joyce is believed to have had a history of mental health problems. Two months before he was fatally shot, he walked into a police station armed with a knife and asked to be arrested, in an apparent desperate attempt to get help.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct on Friday released new findings from its continuing investigation.
Joyce was shot once in the abdomen on 1 April outside the station. Thames Valley police said officers were called to reports of a man armed with a gun, but after the shooting no gun was found.
The IOPC said Joyce, who lived in Milton Keynes but was originally from Galway, Ireland, had a 12cm steak knife when he came face to face with armed officers outside the station.
Using CCTV footage recovered from the scene, and matching it with timings of the call received by police about a man with a gun, IOPC investigators believe it was Joyce himself who called the emergency number.
The IOPC said: “Police had been alerted following a 999 call from a man reporting that ‘there is a man with a gun down at the train station in Milton Keynes’.
“The call handler rang back after the caller hung up during the call and spoke to the man again who said the man with the gun was acting suspiciously, looked like he was about to do something bad and ‘definitely’ had a gun.
“Records show that the mobile phone number used to make the 999 call had been used to call police before and was linked to Mr Joyce.
“CCTV footage shows Mr Joyce making a phone call at a time which matches with when the 999 call to police was made.”
The IOPC added: “[Joyce] was armed with a steak knife, with a 12cm blade, when he ran at two officers. He was then shot at close range by an officer from a Thames Valley police armed response unit which was first on the scene.”
Joyce had been released from prison earlier this year after being jailed for firearms and weapons offences.
On 4 February he walked into a Milton Keynes police station with a knife and asked to be arrested. IOPC investigators believe he was probably trying to get help.
The incident was first reported by the Milton Keynes Citizen.
A Thames Valley police spokesperson said: “At around 6.25pm on 4 February, David Joyce attended Milton Keynes police station with a knife, asking to be arrested. An officer told Mr Joyce to drop the knife and he handed it to the officer. Mr Joyce was arrested and then detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act.”
The IOPC said of its investigation: “All officers who attended the incident remain as witnesses … as there is no indication that any of them may have committed a criminal offence or breached police professional standards of behaviour.”
A full inquest into Joyce’s death will follow the end of the IOPC investigation.
Source: theguardian.com
