More London Bombs, A Man Shot On The Subway

London was the victim of more terrorist bombs and a man was shot by British police. The first thing that is surprising about this story is the fact that British police had weapons with them. Most of the time, British police the street unarmed with little more then a baton to protect them.

So either this is a radical change in British police tactics (which is completely possible) or (somewhat more likely to me) the police who chased the guy after he jumped the turnstiles where not your average, garden-variety constable. Even if the cops who shot the man where regular policemen, this is (as the Brits would put it) highly unusual.

Consider these facts and draw your own conclusions:

1. British policemen are rarely, if ever, armed. This time however, they had handguns.

2. British police being armed could be placed at the foot of recent terrorist activity, but not only where the British uniformed policemen armed, the undercover policemen where armed as well*.

3. Not only where the undercover policemen armed, but they where inside the subway and they fired inside the subway as well*.

My conclusion? The Brits had something they where preparing against, a third attack maybe? In any case, its one terrorist down. To any Brit cop out there, well done and if I had a spot of tea, I'd share.

* I am not an expert on British undercover police methods. I am drawing my conclusions based on what I know or have read about British policemen, so I may be wrong.

Update [7/23/05]:

Police Say Man Gunned Down Not Tied To Bombers

LONDON, July 23 - Scotland Yard admitted Saturday that a man police officers gunned down at point-blank range in front of horrified subway passengers on Friday had nothing to do with the investigation into the bombing attacks here.

The man was identified by police as Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian, described by officers as an electrician on his way to work. "He was not connected to incidents in central London on 21st July, 2005, in which four explosive devices were partly detonated," a police statement said.

The article mentions that the man spoke perfect English, so unless the police never said "Halt" or "Stop" why didn't he stop?

And why was he running in the London subway with a bulky jacket on in the middle of summer?

Also, why did he jump the turnstile?

Hopefully, these questions will be answered by the Scotland Yard investigation.