Chris Kaba shooting case drives London police to consider army backup as officers hand in gun licenses

London - Britain's Ministry of Defense agreed to provide soldiers to support London's Metropolitan Police after more than 100 armed officers refused to go out on armed patrols over the weekend, CBS News partner network BBC News reported. The Met, as the London force is commonly known, said the officers were responding to the authorization of a murder charge against a colleague in the shooting of Chris Kaba, an unarmed 24-year-old Black man, last September. Later on Monday, the Met announced that it had enough armed officers who were willing to work, "to no longer require external assistance."

"There is a concern on the part of firearms officers that even if they stick to the tactics and training they have been given, they will face years of protracted legal proceedings which impact on their personal wellbeing and that of their family," London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said in an open letter on Sunday. "Officers need sufficient legal protection to enable them to do their job and keep the public safe, and the confidence that it will be applied consistently and without fear or favour."

Kaba was driving last year when he was shot in the head and killed by police who stopped him because there was an alert out on the car he was in. His death sparked widespread protests and calls for an investigation.