Gun salute turns deadly

[Exile]

BSI probing Manchester shooting
BY ERICA VIRTUE Sunday Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, August 02, 2009
The normally quiet South Manchester district of Woodlands was plunged into shock early yesterday morning when a Manchester man died after being shot in the back of his head, allegedly by one of a group of policemen giving a gun salute at a pre-Independence dance.
Superintendent Ryland Salmon, who is in charge of the parish, told the Sunday Observer late last evening that the Mandeville police were aware of the incident and extensive investigations are underway.
"The Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) has been called in to investigate the matter, and the policeman in question has been removed from the [Cross Keys] station and ordered confined to barracks at Mandeville Police Station," Superintendent Salmon said in an interview.
According to the senior cop, police investigations have so far revealed that two policemen - a constable and a corporal - responded to reports of gunfire at the dance, which turned out to be gun salutes.
"We understand that when the police went to the dance, the DJ took the mike and told the persons involved in the gun salute to cease, because the police were there to turn off the music," said Superintendent Salmon. "However, the information is that one of the policemen who responded to the reports joined in the gun salute, as the individuals involved were other policemen."
Several residents who spoke to the Sunday Observer yesterday identified the dead man as Errol Allen of Smithfield in the parish. They said he was in his late 40s. Another man, the residents said, was injured.
The residents also alleged that when the policemen realised that Allen was shot, they left the scene in a police vehicle, which, they said, eventually ran into a ditch.
A Sunday Observer source said the service vehicle was later pulled from the ditch by the cops after they had made their way on foot to the Cross Keys Police Station.
Last evening, Superintendent Salmon said that while he was awaiting the outcome of the BSI probe, "the incident cannot be condoned".
One associate of the dead man said it was particularly sad because Allen's adult daughter, who was also at the dance, had arrived in Jamaica Friday and was seeing her father for the first time in 12 years.

[Peter R]

So how were they (cops) going to explain the spent shells? or they don't have to account for that in JA?

[Mosiah]

The nation's finest.

The cop in this should be named as well!

[Mosiah]

Police? Account for something?!?! I remember some years ago I was talking to two associates of mine - one a cop, one a soldier. The soldier was saying how he just can't understand how di police dem do dem ting, because soldiers have to account for every solitary thing that is given to them.

The cop giggled.

[Assasin]

Saw a similar incident happen when I was a youth.
The man was shot and injured. The cop slap charges on him in his hospital bed and scare of witnessess from testifying.

The cop got away and the man was not only injured but lost his job as a overseas farm worker just for listening to a sound system at a dance.

The image still bother me until today.

[Historian]

Agreed, but also....

The nation's finest.

The cop in this should be named as well!

The problem is not only the cop, although the policeman in this case should be arrested and charged to the fullest extent of the law! The problem is in certain accepted cultural practices which we have created, which we have encouraged, and which we eagerly feature to the world.

This is simply another sad case of the chickens coming home to roost. And the unfortunate thing is that a man lost his life in this senseless case! The ridiculous practice of gun salutes by Tom, Dick and Harry should have been stamped out many years ago. We cannot have a civilized society in which men just fire their guns into the air at will as a salute, with these guns being illegal in many cases. The only gun salutes tolerated in Jamaica should be those by the relevant authorities (such as the military) at formal occasions like state funerals!

[Mosiah]

We cannot have a civilized society in which men just fire their guns into the air at will as a salute, with these guns being illegal in many cases.

Really? This is not the first time where this type of gun salute was done by a cop with deadly results. So, on too many occasions, the gun is actually "legal"!

[Historian]

I Know

Really? This is not the first time where this type of gun salute was done by a cop with deadly results. So, on too many occasions, the gun is actually "legal"!

Of course I’m aware of this, which is why I deliberately wrote, “We cannot have a civilized society in which men just fire their guns into the air at will as a salute, with these guns being illegal in many cases.”