The Man that start the UK riot
Mark Duggan handgun tests show conversion into lethal weapon
Ballistics tests on weapon found with dead man in Tottenham indicate firearm had been changed to use live ammunition
The weapon being carried by Mark Duggan, the man whose death sparked the weekend's rioting, was a converted handgun capable of firing real ammunition, the Guardian understands. Forensic tests are being carried out on the handgun found at the scene of Duggan's fatal shooting and bullets fired by the police.
It is understood that ballistics experts have established that the firearm being carried in the minicab was a handgun which at one point had not been capable of firing – a replica, a starting pistol or a collector's weapon. But the firearm had been converted – as many illegal firearms purchased on the street are – into a lethal weapon capable of carrying live ammunition.
The IPCC has said that they hope to have a fuller ballistics picture within 24 hours. But it is understood to be a complex picture, involving a number of tests to establish trajectory of bullets and how many were fired.
According to Sky the C019 firearms officer has said that he never claimed Duggan had shot at him.
The firearms officer is understood to have told investigators that he opened fire because he believed he was in danger from a lethal weapon. Two shots were fired, it is understood; one hit Duggan and one missed, lodging in another officer's radio.
Forensic tests will establish finally whether Duggan fired his weapon at all during the attempted arrest last Thursday evening.
Rachel Cerfontyne, the IPCC commissioner in charge of the independent investigation into Duggan's fatal shooting, said: "IPCC investigators are currently liaising with scientists at the Forensic Science Service regarding analysis on ballistics. We would anticipate being in a position to share verified results within the next 24 hours."
The Guardian reported on Monday that initial ballistics tests on a bullet found lodged in a firearms officer's police radio was a police-issue bullet – indicating that Duggan had not opened fire at the officer.
Establishing precisely what happened when Trident officers, supported by members of the Met's specialist firearms unit, stopped the minicab carrying Duggan on Thursday evening relies heavily on the ballistics results.
Tests are also being carried out to establish the range at which the shots were fired at Duggan. The Met police joined the IPCC to say that any suggestion he was killed in an execution-style shooting by shots to the head was "inflammatory" and inaccurate.
The Duggan family is being kept up to date with developments, the IPCC said.
Cerfontyne said the family's concerns were not about contact with the IPCC but the lack of contact from the police in delivering news of his death to Duggan's parents.
"In the course of our contact (with the family) I know that the family – and indeed the community still have many unanswered questions," Cerfontyne said.