The police officer who shot dead a 17-year-old youth on a platform at Hollands Spoor railway station last year will face manslaughter charges, the public prosecution department said on Wednesday.

Rishi Chandrikasing was shot in the early hours of the morning in November last year. Police had been told an armed man had been seen in the station and had threatened another man with a gun. According to eyewitnesses, three police officers, one in plain clothes, rushed into the station with their weapons drawn.

The official investigation into the killing found the officer whose shot killed the youth was not standing in the proper position when he fired. Camera pictures show the officer was running when he fired his gun, hitting the teenager in the neck.

Chandrikasing was found to be unarmed. His family have started a private prosecution against the police.