A police officer blasted to death with a shotgun by a colleague during a training exercise was not wearing body armour, it emerged yesterday. Constable Ian Terry was playing the role of a criminal fleeing in a car when he was shot in the chest.

Lucy Collins

A police officer blasted to death with a shotgun by a colleague during a training exercise was not wearing body armour, it emerged yesterday.

Constable Ian Terry was playing the role of a criminal fleeing in a car when he was shot in the chest.

The 32-year-old was rushed to North Manchester General Hospital after the incident, around 11.30am on Monday, but doctors could not save his life.

He had been shot during the exercise at a disused warehouse in Newton Heath, north Manchester, being used by officers to practise firearms exercises.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating the incident and said Constable Terry died after being struck by a single shot discharged from a shotgun carried by a colleague.

An IPCC spokesman confirmed yesterday that initial findings suggested the dead policeman was not wearing body armour.

He said the officer was shot with "round irritant personnel" ammunition, which disperses CS gas.

The spokesman said the CS gas would be substituted with white powder during a training exercise.

The "hard-stop" exercises practised by police involve officers blasting a CS canister into suspects' cars to disable the occupants and other officers pulling alongside to shoot out the wheels.

The spokesman added that Mr Terry was seated in the front passenger seat of a Suzuki Vitara jeep when he was fatally shot.

He said: "We are looking into whether he should have been wearing body armour. There's a wide range of things to be looked at."

Mr Terry, of Burnley, Lancashire, had been a firearms officer with Greater Manchester Police since 2002 after joining the police force in 1997.

His wife and family were too upset to speak of their grief yesterday.

Dave Whatton, acting Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are with Ian's family and friends. He was a well-respected officer and will be sadly missed."

After the shooting, police forensic experts studied four cars parked two behind two and taped off in the warehouse's goods yard.

One of the cars, a grey Citroen Xsara, had its front passenger window smashed. The driver's door was open as was the driver's door of the Suzuki Vitara car parked in front.

A bullet-proof jacket, oxygen mask, police helmets and a yellow jacket were on the ground nearby.