LONDON – Family and friends of the Brazilian man shot by police on the London Underground demanded the resignation of the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, if it turned out that he misled the public about the circumstances of the tragedy.

They said yesterday that he was “ultimately responsible” for the officers who gunned down a 27-year-old electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, thinking he was a suicide bomber, and for the “catalogue of disasters” that led to his death.

Leaked confidential witness statements suggest that de Menezes was already being restrained before he was shot seven times in the head and had not run from police by vaulting over the ticket barrier at Stockwell Underground station as originally stated. He was dressed in a light denim jacket, not a heavy coat, raising additional questions about why the police believed that his behavior and clothing were suspicious.

Lawyers acting for the relatives said they no longer had any faith in the formal investigation being conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and issued a list of questions they wanted answered.

A former Scotland Yard police commander, John O’Connor, said the latest disclosures were “catastrophic” and would put Sir Ian under pressure.

In a statement, the family’s lawyers said, “From the beginning, the most senior of police officers and ministers, including the prime minister, claimed the death of Jean Charles to be an unfortunate accident occurring in the context of an entirely legitimate, justifiable, lawful and necessary policy,” they said. “In the context of the lies now revealed, that claim has become even less sustainable and even more alarming.”

The Home Office and the police said they could not comment while the IPCC investigation was continuing.