Police officer tells inquiry how he shot Glasgow hotel attacker

A police officer has told an inquiry how he shot and killed an asylum seeker who had lunged at him with a knife in a Glasgow hotel.

Badreddin Abdullah Adam Bosh, 28, stabbed five people, including a police constable, during the incident at the Park Inn hotel in Glasgow in June 2020.

The unnamed firearms officer told a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Glasgow Sheriff Court that he thought Bosh was going to seriously injure or kill him.

The inquiry will determine whether lessons could be learned from the incident.

CCTV footage showed Bosh moving towards the officer with a kitchen knife on a narrow first floor landing at the hotel.

Bosh was then shot dead at close range by the firearms officer and one of his colleagues.

Those who were stabbed during the incident underwent emergency surgery and survived.

Bosh was one of hundreds of refugees moved from flats to hotels at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was a move that raised concerns about the mental health of often vulnerable individuals.

Referred to in court as Officer 4, the witness said he had first encountered Bosh coming down the stairs to the ground floor of the city centre hotel.

He said Bosh was wearing a blood-stained bandana and fitted the description of the suspect, who was known to be at large in the building after carrying out the attacks.

He shouted at Bosh to put his hands on his head, but instead he stood his ground then turned and started to go back up the stairs to the first floor landing.

The officer and his colleague, Officer 2, followed with their carbines raised.

Officer 4 said he was aware that other potential victims were in the hotel and firearms officers were on the floors above him.

As he reached the first floor landing, the officer saw Bosh standing with his back to the lift doors in a slight recess.

"He looked as if he was trying to hide in that space," he added.

He saw Bosh was holding a knife at his side and ordered him to drop it. He said Bosh then lunged towards him.

"I think he was trying to attack me with the knife, possibly seriously injure or kill me," the officer said. "I fired my carbine.

"I fired one shot. I could see no reaction from the subject so I fired further shots.

"The subject leaned over at his waist. He fell into me. I had to move out the way. He then fell onto his back and I saw that the knife was still in his hand."

He told the court that he kicked the knife out of his hand and handcuffed Bosh, before helping other officers give him first aid.

"I saw his eyes close and after that I saw no other signs of life," he added.

Bosh was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officer 4 said he believed his actions had been within the rules governing the discharge of firearms by police officers.

On behalf of Bosh's next of kin, Mark Stewart KC said: "People might wonder and ask why it is that police officers who are armed do not shoot to injure by shooting an extremity."

Officer 4 said doing so would have been difficult and more likely to put himself and his colleague at risk by failing to incapacitate Bosh.

In 2023, the Crown Office announced that the police officers involved in the shooting would not face prosecution and their actions had been "absolutely necessary."

The inquiry before Sheriff Stuart Reid continues.