'Our son's life should never have ended this way - we want answers over Christmas police shooting'
A rally will be held to mark the first anniversary of the shooting of a father-of-two by a West Mercia Police officer.
Marcus Meade was shot in the chest by a firearms officer at his Redditch home following concerns over his welfare on Christmas Eve last year.
The family of the 39-year-old, who grew up in Birmingham, said there will be a public rally to mark the anniversary and to renew their calls for "accountability, transparency and justice" relating to their concerns over the shooting which happened while Mr Meade was experiencing a mental health crisis.
They stated that while others celebrate Christmas, they will instead be "mourning the loss of a son, father and loved one whose life should never have ended this way”.
The event for the Justice 4 Marcus Meade Campaign will take place outside the West Mercia Police force's Hindlip Hall headquarters in Hindlip, Worcestershire on December 22 at midday.
The group said the family will also present a petition calling for the suspension of the officer involved or the resignation of Chief Constable Richard Cooper.
They claim they have so for received no satisfactory answers about the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting.
Their concerns include that the officer who discharged their weapon has remained in post while investigations continue; how the decision was made to deploy a firearms unit; how the situation came to escalate at the flat in Fownhope Close resulting in a fatality.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation which will consider if his race was a factor in the shooting after his family raised complaints about police actions including a decision by the force not to suspend the officers involved.
Mr Meade was reportedly alone inside the property and suffering a mental health episode when he was shot.
More than 2,000 supporters have put their names to the group's Change.org petition calling on Mr Cooper to suspend the officer or resign.
After referring themselves to the watchdog, West Mercia Police said it would not be able to comment further at this stage.
