Chris Kaba was hit by a gunshot fired by a Met officer into the vehicle he was driving
Suella Braverman has said armed police must not fear “ending up in the dock for carrying out their duties” after a marksman was charged with murder.
The home secretary ordered a review into armed policing after dozens of officers in London handed in their weapons, saying they were worried about the murder charge.
Unarmed Chris Kaba, 24, died after he was shot in south London last year.
A Metropolitan Police officer appeared in court on Thursday.
Ms Braverman said on Sunday that officers have to make “split-second decisions” and risk “their lives to keep us safe”.
The Met said many firearms officers were “worried” about how the charging decision “impacts on them”.
One former armed response officer, Harry Tangye, told the BBC he would surrender his weapon if he was still in the force.
“It’s not worth it,” he told Radio 4’s the World at One programme.
A source suggested that more than 100 officers have handed in what is known as a ticket permitting them to carry firearms.
Armed officers from other forces are being deployed as a contingency measure.
The force said its own officers still make up the vast majority of armed police in the capital, but they were being supported by a limited number of firearms officers from neighbouring forces.
Ms Braverman said people “depend on our brave firearms officers to protect us”.
“In the interest of public safety they have to make split-second decisions under extraordinary pressures.”
She said that officers have her “full backing”.
“I will do everything in my power to support them,” she added.
Mr Kaba died after a police operation in Streatham Hill on 5 September 2022.
He was hit by a gunshot fired by a Met Police officer into the vehicle he was driving and died in hospital the following day, an inquest was told.
The construction worker was months away from becoming a father when he was shot.
His death prompted a number of protests, particularly among London’s black communities.
On Saturday, the Met said firearms officers were concerned that the Crown Prosecution Service bringing a charge against the officer “signals a shift in the way the decisions they take in the most challenging circumstances will be judged”.
“A number of officers have taken the decision to step back from armed duties while they consider their position. That number has increased over the past 48 hours,” the spokesperson said.
The Met added it has a “significant firearms capability and we continue to have armed officers deployed in communities across London as well as at other sites including Parliament, diplomatic premises, airports etc”.
