The police marksman who shot Mark Duggan dead has testified for the first time in public and said he had "absolutely no doubt" that the suspect was preparing to raise a handgun he was clutching and open fire on officers surrounding him.
The officer, known only as V53, said his substantive account of the shooting was compiled three days later, with he and his colleagues spending more than eight hours sitting in a room together writing their statements.
He said they were aware of the rules about officers conferring and had discussed the incident among themselves, then wrote their statements.
The police marksman denied there was a shoot-to-kill policy, saying he wanted to "neutralise" the threat Duggan posed and stop him. He told a jury that after firing two shots, Duggan fell to the floor but he was unable to see the gun, which he said was later recovered nearby.
The shooting of Duggan on 4 August 2011 in Tottenham, north London, triggered riots that spread across the capital and to other cities.
The firearms officer was giving evidence at the trial of the man accused of supplying the gun to Duggan. The accused, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, denies handing over the gun just 15 minutes before Duggan was confronted by police and shot.
Speaking from behind a screen, the police marksman told a jury at Snaresbrook crown court in east London: "Mark Duggan was holding a handgun in his right hand. He was holding the pistol grip or the handle of the gun. I could make out the shape and outline of the gun. I could make out the trigger guard."
He said the gun was covered by a sock and he could make out the gun barrel.
Duggan had been followed by covert officers as he travelled to east London to allegedly pick up a weapon.
As the taxi reached Ferry Lane in Tottenham, the officer said the order was heard over the radio, "strike, strike, strike", meaning police in unmarked cars were to force the vehicle carrying Duggan to stop. The marksman said Duggan came out of the taxi at speed.
V53 said armed officers shouted "armed police" and "stand still" at Duggan. He did not comply, the jury was told.
V53 said: "As I shouted 'armed police', Mark Duggan has turned to face me." The officer said Duggan was holding the gun at the level of his stomach: "The only way I can describe it … is as an 'oh fuck' moment. He has got a gun and he is going to use it on me."
He said Duggan was moving the barrel away from his body, into the "aim position". Armed with an MP5 sub-machine gun, the officer said he shot Duggan in the chest to stop him, not to kill him: "I had an honest held belief that Mark Duggan was going to shoot me or one of my colleagues."
After the first shot Duggan made a "flinching movement" but still had the gun in his right hand and V53 fired again, striking Duggan in the right bicep.
Duggan fell to the floor. Another officer shouted: "I'm hit, I'm hit," after a ricochet from his colleague struck him. The police-issue bullet struck his radio.
Before the jury, V53 stressed his certainty of the key aspect of his account, saying he had "absolutely no doubt" and was 100% sure Duggan was holding a gun when challenged by police.
Questioned by Stuart Denney QC for the defence, V53 said he was taken away from the scene in a car that contained colleagues and a representative from the Police Federation – the body that represents rank and file officers.
Three days after the shooting V53 and 10 colleagues were shown into a room, where they made written statements.
V53 said by this stage he had already given two short accounts.
On 7 August, V53 said, before he and his colleagues entered the room, they were reminded by a manager about the rules on conferring.
The officers entered the room at midday and finished at 8.40pm.
V53 said the officers had followed the rules on making statements after a shooting, which had been agreed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
V53 said: "One of the things we were not allowed to discuss was why I opened fire. That was my decision and my decision alone. "
He said this was to be the biggest statement he had ever made and he wanted to get it right.
V53 said he and the 10 other officers would discuss events, broken down into sections, then write that part down in their statement: "We would discuss it and keep writing as we went along."
The officer added: "I have nothing to hide. I want to be accountable for my actions."
The trial continues.