Officer Who Shot Man 'Thought Child Would Be Stabbed'

A firearms officer who shot Sergii Kuzmenko at a property on Carlisle's Borland Avenue on 19 December 2022 told an inquest he thought a child was about to be stabbed. Kuzmenko, a Ukrainian national who spoke limited English, was killed by Cumbria Police officers responding to reports of a man making threats to kill while a young child was present.

The officer, identified in court as Officer C, said he had been a firearms officer for seven years prior to the incident but had never fired a live round at a suspect before. He said he heard unarmed officers at the scene calling for armed police and described the message as frantic.

Officer C told the inquest he did not have time to consider using his Taser instead of his firearm. He said he fired further shots after initially firing because the child was still at risk of being stabbed. Officer K, the force incident manager who authorised the deployment of armed police, said the initial information did not meet the criteria for armed officers but changed after officers on the scene reported Kuzmenko was holding a knife to a child's throat.

Kuzmenko had been categorised as emotionally or mentally distressed (EMD) by the police. The inquest in Workington, which is expected to last up to three weeks, continues.