A FIREARMS officer has spoken of his “complete shock and disbelief” when he shot and fatally wounded a colleague from Burnley at point-blank range during a police training drill.

The officer, named only as Chris at an inquest, said he acted instinctively to a perceived threat from PC Ian Terry, who was waving a pistol around while playing the role of an armed suspect during the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) tactical exercise in June 2008.

Before the drill Chris, who had been a firearms officer for eight years, said he was not told PC Terry would be armed with a gun as part of the training scenario.

The inquest at Manchester’s Civil Justice Centre has heard that the role of Chris was to shoot out the tyre on a Suzuki Vitara jeep, in which PC Terry and a second officer were sitting.

CCTV footage captured the moment when Chris, who had been driven to the jeep, emerged and shot PC Terry, of Red Spar Road, Burnley, with a Remington 12-bore shotgun containing a live practice round, moments later.

Recalling the fatal shot, Chris said: “It was just complete shock. It was just complete disbelief. At first I didn’t know what had happened.

“Obviously I knew the gun had gone off and I just wanted Ian to be okay.”

The inquest heard that first aid was immediately administered to PC Terry, but he died shortly afterwards from his injuries.

Later Chris added: “I had obviously hurt Ian, as he had yelped and moved.

"That was why I wanted to get him out, to see what had happened.

“I opened the door of the car and I just dragged him out.”

Asked by Jonathan Hough, counsel to the inquest, about how he had reacted to PC Terry waving the gun around, he said: “I never had any intention of hurting anyone.

"I was there to cover the threat. I don’t know why the trigger went off, it just did.

"It is just horrible. I did not want to hurt anyone, especially not Ian, not anyone.”

Winston Hunter, counsel for PC Terry’s family, questioned Chris about why he had not had the safety catch deployed until he was ready to shoot out the jeep’s tyre, in line with GMP firearms procedures.

Chris said: “Sometime I would take the safety off and keep my finger out of the trigger.

"With some of the tactics speed is of the essence and if you have got the safety off then you are ready to deal with what is in front of you. It sometimes gives you an extra second.”

The inquest heard that Chris had been involved in several real-life firearms confrontations and was undergoing refresher training at the time of the shooting.