Jean Charles de Menezes (7 January 1978 – 22 July 2005) was a Brazilian national shot dead by police at Stockwell tube station in London, England. He was shot in the head at close range by Metropolitan Police who misidentified him as a suicide bomber about to explode a device on the London Underground. Within hours police discovered that he was not involved in any terrorist act, but was actually an innocent victim. Immediate and later accounts of what happened on the day of the shooting published in the press contradicted each other, specifically on the manner and clothing of de Menezes as he entered the station, and the presence of police warnings before firing. The shooting sparked public debate over an apparent change in police policy, in which a shoot to kill practice had been introduced known as Operation Kratos to deal with terrorist threats.

On the day of the shooting, the police were hunting the four suspects on the run after the failed bombing of the London Underground (The Tube) the previous day, the 21 July 2005 London bombings (not to be confused with the 7/7 London bombings two weeks earlier). Intelligence had linked the address of Jean Charles's home, a communal block of flats in the Tulse Hill area of south London, to the bombing, which the police put under surveilance. On the morning of the shooting, Jean Charles set out from the flats on his way to Stockwell tube station. Believing him to match the description of a suspect, police followed him from his flat, on to a bus, and then into the tube station. Armed officers were dispatched to the station, and shot him dead shortly after he boarded a tube train.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched two investigations into the shooting, termed Stockwell 1 and Stockwell 2. Stockwell 1, whose findings were initially kept secret, concluded that no officer involved in the shooting would face disciplinary charges, but made recomendations for changes to operational procedures to improve public safety in future anti-terrorist operations. Stockwell 2 strongly criticised the police command structure and communications to the public, bringing pressure on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to resign. In July 2006, based on the IPCC findings, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any of the officers involved in the shooting, who remain unnamed, although a corporate criminal prosecution of the Metropolitan Police was brought under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This alleged that the Metropolitan Police service had failed in its duty of care to De Menezes. After lodging a not guilty plea, on 1 November 2007 the service was found guilty and fined, although the jury added a rider that Cressida Dick, operational commander on the day, bore "no personal culpability".

On 22 September 2008 an inquest was opened into the shooting, having been adjourned until after the conclusion of the criminal prosecution. Prior to the judgement, the Coroner, Sir Sir Michael Wright, instructed the jury that in his interpretation of the law they could not return a verdict of unlawful killing based on the inquiry evidence presented. On 12 December 2008 the jury returned an open verdict.. In addition to the verdict, in answer to 12 additional questions over the incident, the jury concluded the claim that police had shouted a warning before firing was false and that although De Menezes stood up he did not advance on the armed police. They also identified six factors that contributed to the killing of de Menezes.