BBC Midlands Today<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n BBC News, West Midlands<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A man shot dead by police during a drugs raid was killed lawfully, a jury has concluded. <\/p>\n Sean Fitzgerald, 31, was killed on 4 January 2019 in Burnaby Road, Coventry, where West Midlands Police officers were investigating the activities of a suspected organised crime gang.<\/p>\n The officer who fired the fatal shot – Officer K – told Coventry Coroner’s Court he had been standing in the property’s back garden when he saw a curtain move and a black object being held.<\/p>\n Mr Fitzgerald, who was unarmed, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest after exiting the property at about 18:20 GMT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Six years after his death, an inquest jury was asked to consider two conclusions of lawful or unlawful killing by Officer K.<\/p>\n The officer, as well as a number of others, have had their anonymity protected during proceedings.<\/p>\n The jury identified three failures in the police operation, including the level of intelligence and inadequate prior surveillance of premises.<\/p>\n Liam Fitzgerald, Sean’s brother, held his head in his hands as the jury announced its conclusion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The events that led to the fatal shooting began in 2017, when Warwickshire Police started investigating an organised crime gang it believed was dealing Class A drugs in the Nuneaton, Bedworth and Coventry areas.<\/p>\n As the gang’s activities escalated, the investigation was handed over to the West Midlands’ Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU).<\/p>\n ROCU received intelligence claiming lead gang members were expected to be at 56 Burnaby Road for a regular meeting on the day of the shooting.<\/p>\n Within hours, a search warrant and firearms assistance was agreed for a raid on the house.<\/p>\n The jury was told there was limited information about the layout of the house, but that members of the gang had access to weapons.<\/p>\n During the inquest, Officer K described to jurors how he had been in the property’s garden when he saw a man holding what he thought was a gun.<\/p>\n “I thought he was about to shoot us,” Officer K said. “I fired one shot at the male to stop his actions.<\/p>\n “It seemed to take an eternity, I was aware it was quick but at the time it seemed to slow down. I thought I was going to be shot.”<\/p>\n It was found that the object in Mr Fitzgerald’s hand was a mobile phone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Family](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/37f6\/live\/0e480300-13c9-11f0-ba12-8d27eb561761.jpg.webp\")
Family<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘Thought I was going to be shot’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n