THE police officer who shot dead an unarmed robbery suspect in Culcheth has revealed what happened in the minutes leading up to the moment he pulled the trigger.

Anthony Grainger, 36, from Bolton, was shot by a Greater Manchester Police firearms officer – known as Q9 – in a pre-planned operation on March 3, 2012.

Q9, who is still a serving officer, was giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court from behind a curtain to protect his anonymity.

He told the inquiry that he feared officers were in ‘extreme danger’ ahead of firing the gun.

On the evening of March 3, Q9 had provided firearms cover from a police vehicle.

The inquiry heard Q9 shouted ‘armed police, show us your hands’ at Mr Grainger and David Totton who were inside the stolen car.

The officer revealed how both men raised their hands above the dashboard.

But Q9, who was working as a specialist firearms officer after beginning his police career in 1991, recalled seeing Mr Grainger make a ‘sudden and deliberate movement’.

He told the inquiry he was ‘sure to the point of certainty’ at that moment that Mr Grainger had a gun.

The inquiry has heard that no firearms were found on Mr Grainger or in the vehicle.

In an interview following the shooting Q9 revealed how he was on a firearms planning team who was tasked with looking into Mr Grainger for the Serious Organised Crime Agency in 2008.

He said: “The information was that he was involved with Gary Knox and Francis Hunt in the supply of drugs and firearms, which were in a premises in Bury. 

“Because of the nature of the threat posed by these individuals they wanted a quick reaction force in.”

Before his death, Mr Grainger had been under surveillance as part of Operation Shire which was set up to target an organised crime gang believed to be conspiring to commit armed robberies.

The inquiry continues.