A bulletproof vest saved a police officer in a shoot-out which left a pensioner dead.

A bullet was found lodged in a Sussex Police marksman’s vest after officers shot and killed Wild West enthusiast Mervyn Tussler on Friday.

The first picture of Mr Tussler was released yesterday as the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed he was killed by a single gunshot wound to his torso.

The 64-year-old was shot at his West Sussex home after police were called to reports of a man brandishing a gun.

Investigators said a Colt pistol found at the scene had been fired four times - and a bullet thought to be from the same gun was lodged in an officer’s protective vest.

An IPCC statement said: “The bullet is not of a type used by the police and would not have come from a police weapon.

“A ballistics expert’s provisional view is that it has probably come from the Colt handgun but is subject to further detailed tests.”

The bullet which killed Mr Tussler is thought to have come from a police weapon.

In a statement, Mr Tussler’s children said they were determined to find out exactly what had happened on the day their father was shot.

They said: “We can’t believe something like this has happened.

“There are a lot of questions to be answered and we are determined to find out the truth.

“We would ask people to wait for the outcome of this investigation and not speculate what happened to our father.”

Friends of Mr Tussler said he was devastated after being told his ill wife Winifred would have to be put into a care home.

Mr Tussler had been her carer for several years and was described as “a lost soul” when he learned she would not return home from hospital.

The IPCC said investigators spent the weekend interviewing witnesses to the shooting in Ash Grove, Fernhurst, near Midhurst, and are trying to find out what happened in the minutes leading up to Mr Tussler’s death.

Commissioner Mike Franklin said: “I extend my deepest sympathies to Mr Tussler’s family at this very difficult time.

”I also don’t underestimate the effect this must have had on the officers involved. I am assured Sussex Police are taking the relevant steps to support them.”

Police confirmed the firearms officers involved have not been suspended but are not doing armed work at the moment.

A spokesman said: “Those officers most directly involved in this incident have been temporarily removed from operational duties which is normal procedure following such an incident.

“This decision will be reviewed in conjunction with any decisions made by the IPCC and in the context of their welfare.”

After Mr Tussler’s death, his friend Peter Goodman told The Argus they were both members of Headley Park Rifle and Pistol Club, where they took part in Wild West re-enactments.

Sussex Police’s major crime branch revealed yesterday that a 54-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of possessing a fiream and released on bail.

A spokesman said the man is not thought to have played any part in Friday’s events.