A 31-year-old man fatally shot by police in a raid has been named locally as Sean Fitzgerald.

Two others were arrested at the scene in Coventry on suspicion of a drugs offence following an intelligence-led operation on Friday evening, West Midlands Police said.

Friends paid tribute to Mr Fitzgerald, who lived locally, as the police watchdog opened an investigation into the shooting that followed the execution of a warrant at about 6.20pm.

Man shot dead during police operation in Coventry
The area around the scene on Burnaby Road remained cordoned off on Saturday morning (Adam Court/PA)

One, who gave his name as Ali, said he had been with the “very, very good guy” shortly before he visited the home in Burnaby Road where he was killed.

Ali said he believed his friend presented “no threat or danger”, and added: “He’s served for all of us – the police, everybody – in the Army up until last year.”

Friend Jayson Moore added: “Sean was a completely thoughtful bloke. He spent his whole Christmas day building trampolines and playing with the kids. He did not deserve to die.”

A family member wrote online that she was “absolutely gutted” by the death of Mr Fitzgerald, who another friend described as a “one of a kind” who “would be there for anyone”.

Investigators from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will examine footage from cameras being worn by the officers involved as well as local CCTV.

They are yet to find a firearm at the scene, but the search continues, a spokeswoman said on Saturday afternoon.

Friends suggested he was shot in the back, but police moved to refute this at an early stage in the investigation.

Asked at a press conference about the claims, Assistant Chief Constable Sou Southern said: “From the information I have at this point that is not my understanding.

“Body-worn video has been examined and there will be a full forensic post-mortem, and the findings of that will form part of the independent IOPC investigation.”

West Midlands Police said that the two 26-year-old men arrested at the scene are in custody on suspicion of involvement in the production of cannabis.

ACC Southern said the raid came “as part of a long-running criminal investigation”.

Fire engineer Karl Lolley, a father-of-two who lives behind the police cordon, said he heard “four or five” gunshots after witnessing officers descend on the home.

“I saw three or four armed police cars turn up. Five to six armed officers got out and they went in the front door. There was some gunshots,” the 39-year-old told the Press Association.

“The next thing you know there’s more police arriving and they cordon off the area.

“They carry a person out on a stretcher, they put him in an ambulance – the lights on the ambulance were flashing for about half an hour as they were working on him.

“Then they turned the lights off and they drove off slowly. Obviously they pronounced him dead.”

A large number of police cars, along with emergency service vehicles, were reported in the area of Burnaby Road, a largely residential street north of the city centre, in the wake of the incident.

Locals were told to go indoors as a section of the street was closed and “over 17 police cars (and) armed police” arrived.

Adam Court, 26, owner of the local media network Complete Traffic based nearby, told PA: “We heard a lot of sirens heading towards the far end of the street and traffic coming to a swift halt.

“The road is plagued with a history of serious collisions so this was nothing out of the ordinary.

“But it was the sheer number of police officers at the scene that caused initial concern.”

The area around the scene remained cordoned off on Saturday morning.

The IOPC confirmed it opened an inquiry after the force reported the fatality during a “pre-planned operation”.

IOPC regional director Amanda Rowe: “Our investigation is in its very early stages and we will be working hard to establish what happened. My thoughts are with the man’s family and all of those affected by this incident.

“The next steps will be to view the body-worn video footage and establish if there are any local CCTV recordings. At this stage we are looking at the circumstances of the incident and all officers remain witnesses to our investigation.”

The man’s next-of-kin have been informed.