Azelle Rodney officer's 'warning to team'

Azelle Rodney was shot six times during a Met Police operation to arrest a suspected armed gang and fatally injured

A senior firearms officer told his team to be "on top of their game" before a police marksman shot dead a suspected armed robber, a court has heard.

The operation's Bronze Commander gave a dramatic account of events leading up to the moment police firearms officer Anthony Long shot Azelle Rodney, 24.

Mr Rodney was killed in Mill Hill, north London, in April 2005.

Mr Long, 58, who has given an address in Leatherhead, Surrey, denies murder.

An officer, identified only by call sign E1, told the jury how on the day of the shooting, the suspects were thought to be armed with an automatic weapon and on their way to rob a group of Colombian drug dealers in Edgware, north London.

A convoy of firearms officers set up to support surveillance had been parked in Harlesden, north London, when they were told the suspects were on the move.

During his evening briefing - an hour and three quarters before the shooting - he told his men to be "at the top of their game".

'Could be dangerous'

"I told the teams it was believed the suspects had possession of automatic weapons and were seeking access to another," he said.

"It was my way of telling my team 'guys, this could be really risky, this could be dangerous".

He said Mr Long - call sign E7 - was to provide "static cover" during the operation because of his position as the front passenger of the car which would pull up alongside the target Volkswagen Golf.

Retired police officer Anthony Long had 30 years' experience of handling firearms when he shot Mr Rodney

When the Golf left Harlesden, the firearms team followed it into Hale Lane where E1 ordered a "state red" to initiate the stop.

E1 got out of his vehicle shouting "armed police" and ordered a group of people sitting outside a pub nearby to move inside.

He said: "As I approached these people I heard a succession of shots ring out from the vicinity of the Golf."

E1 said later another officer - known as E3 - opened the Golf door to reveal Mr Rodney slumped in his seat.

"I saw a black male slumped in the vehicle," he added. "I could see he was not moving and blood was spilling out of his head down his body."

He said Mr Long "told me that he fired at the male suspect believing he was going to fire a gun.

"That was sufficient to know he was the officer who fired the shots," he added.

When he went back to the suspects' car, E1 said: "I looked in and saw a black self-loading pistol on the seat.

"I also saw several bags in the footwell. I know it transpired there were weapons."

The trial continues.