He is one of four police shooters who have been put on trial for killing a suspect.
The most recent was Martyn Blake, who was exonerated today for the September 2022 murder of Chris Kaba in south London.
I asked Mr. Long a question that he has been asked a lot: what is the reaction of a firearms officer after a death?
He answered, “A kind of emptiness, me personally.” “If that makes sense, having a vague sense of guilt but not really feeling guilty.
Taking a human life isn’t something you do lightly, unless you’re a psychopath, I think, for me and all of us. And I was angry, too.
Azelle Rodney, a suspected gang member who officers believed was en route to carry out an armed robbery in north London in 2005, was shot dead by the now-retired 67-year-old former police marksman.
Mr. Long shot 24-year-old Rodney six times after police stopped the car he was in because he thought his movements indicated he was reaching for a gun.
“I had to spend a long time at the scene, watching as my coworkers attempted to administer first aid to the young man I had shot.”
