By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent
The police marksman who killed Mark Duggan has said he had "an honestly held belief" that the suspect was about to shoot him.
Known only as V53, the experienced firearms officer was giving evidence at the inquest in London.
He described how he was part of a Metropolitan Police operation tracking Mark Duggan through London on August 4, 2011.
Intelligence reports had said that Mr Duggan had gone in a minicab to pick up a gun from an associate.
The inquest saw dummy images of where the shots entered Mr Duggan's body After the "hard stop" of the minicab Mr Duggan moved out of the vehicle.
V53 told the inquest: "He has an object in his right hand, he has a handgun in his right hand."
Shouts of "liar" were heard from the public gallery.
Many of Mr Duggan's family and loved ones have cast doubt on the police version of events.
V53 went on: "The world just stopped in my head like a freeze frame moment, the only thing I was focusing on was the gun.
"I've assessed that at that time he's not posing a threat to me. I'm hoping he's going to drop it. The next thing he does, he starts to move the gun away from his body.
"He's raised the weapon, moved it a couple of inches away from his body."
He added: "There is a line in the sand now. There is a tipping point ... because he's moved it away from his body I now have an honestly-held belief that he is going to shoot me."
V53 was carrying a taser, a Glock gun and a larger MP5 firearm. He described how he used the MP5 to shoot Mr Duggan in the chest.
He said: "This is happening in a split second. I've brought my weapon up and I've discharged one round and I'm aiming for the central body mass because I'm looking to shoot to stop."
V53 said the first bullet hit Mr Duggan in the chest and caused him to flinch, and the alleged gun was then pointing towards the marksman.
He then fired a second shot, which hit him in his right biceps.
Police carried out a 'hard stop' as Mr Duggan travelled in a minicab Mr Duggan fell to the pavement where V53, as a trained medic, began first aid.
Paramedics later arrived but Mr Duggan had suffered fatal injuries.
One of the bullets that passed through Mr Duggan went on to hit and injure another police officer who was at the scene.
Crucially, V53 could not explain why the alleged handgun was later found 10-20ft away behind some railings.
It was found by a senior colleague and the weapon was wrapped in a sock, a common criminal tactic to prevent gunshot residue being left at a crime scene.
V53 described himself as "a good marksman" but admitted that in fast-moving real-life scenarios officers could not be as accurate as they are in training.
When quizzed about how he lost sight of the handgun after he had opened fire, V53 said: "I would love to be able to say I saw the gun fly over a fence after the second shot but I won't put down what I haven't seen.
The gun allegedly carried by Mark Duggan "I didn't see what happened to the gun."
Leslie Thomas, representing the Duggan family, suggested that there was no gun in Mr Duggan's hand V53 replied: "Mr Thomas I appreciate you have to put it across but it is complete rubbish.
"This moment has lived with me for the last two years. Mark Duggan had a gun, he presented a threat to me and the only option I had was to open fire."
The driver of the minicab previously told the inquest that the police officer who fired the shots looked "very angry, like someone who had lost his senses".
The inquest aims to establish the truthful timeline of events and to dispel any false theories about the shooting, which led to riots and looting in London and other cities around England.
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