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Published: Tuesday | August 31, 20100 Comments and 0 Reactions
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
A TEAM from the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) arrived in St Ann yesterday to begin probing the death of Constable Sheldon Williams, who was allegedly shot by police Sunday night after he was taken into custody for discharging his firearm while on a party boat.
The probe is also one of four the Independent Commission of Investigations took charge of yesterday.
Information surrounding the incident has been unclear in the absence of a statement from the police information arm, the Constabulary Communication Network.
However, The Gleaner understands that the 24-year-old Williams, who was stationed at the police armoury at Elletson Road, was with a group of policemen, both from Kingston and St Ann, on board the party boat off the coast of Ocho Rios Sunday night.
It is alleged that during the party Williams discharged his firearm in the air. A policeman stationed at Ocho Rios told reporters Sunday night that he warned Williams for prosecution for the act. Later, Williams again discharged his firearm in the air, resulting in the police on land being alerted.
The police later picked up Williams at the pier and escorted him to the Ocho Rios Police Station, where his gun was seized and he was being processed.
Williams' father, Pastor Devon Williams, after speaking to the police Sunday night, said he learnt that the constable retrieved the empty firearm from a desk and ran out of the building and was chased by other policemen on to Evelyn Street.
Shots were fired and Constable Williams and another policeman were hit. Williams died while the other policeman was treated at hospital.
On Monday, sources indicated that Constable Williams might have been shot by another policeman who was driving by, saw the chase and opened fire at the fleeing figure.
Pastor Williams said his son was shot three times in the upper body and neck.
The shooting, which took place around 10:30 p.m., drew a large crowd that lingered until early yesterday morning.
The new day brought protests from angry relatives and friends of the deceased.
Some of the protesters complained that he did not have to be shot, even if he had tried to escape, as his pursuers knew who he was.
One man who claimed to have been on the boat said the constable was drinking and this could have contributed to his actions at the station.
The BSI began its probe even as protesters at the station demanded justice and the intervention of Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson and Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington.
Deputy superintendent of police for St Ann, Clifford Heron, addressed the protesters to no avail.
"I also spoke to the father and grandfather of the deceased. We had an amicable meeting," Heron later told The Gleaner. "They seem to understand what is happening; I have told them that the BSI is on the ground doing its investigations and I am only asking for their cooperation so that the investigation can be completed."
The incident occurred exactly one month after another controversial police shooting that also involved police from Ocho Rios, St Ann. That shooting, in Buckfield, was caught on camera by a resident and aired on Television Jamaica, resulting in widespread condemnation of the killing despite support from residents of the community who described the deceased as a terrorist.
Published: Tuesday | August 31, 20100 Comments and 0 Reactions
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
A TEAM from the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) arrived in St Ann yesterday to begin probing the death of Constable Sheldon Williams, who was allegedly shot by police Sunday night after he was taken into custody for discharging his firearm while on a party boat.
The probe is also one of four the Independent Commission of Investigations took charge of yesterday.
Information surrounding the incident has been unclear in the absence of a statement from the police information arm, the Constabulary Communication Network.
However, The Gleaner understands that the 24-year-old Williams, who was stationed at the police armoury at Elletson Road, was with a group of policemen, both from Kingston and St Ann, on board the party boat off the coast of Ocho Rios Sunday night.
It is alleged that during the party Williams discharged his firearm in the air. A policeman stationed at Ocho Rios told reporters Sunday night that he warned Williams for prosecution for the act. Later, Williams again discharged his firearm in the air, resulting in the police on land being alerted.
The police later picked up Williams at the pier and escorted him to the Ocho Rios Police Station, where his gun was seized and he was being processed.
Williams' father, Pastor Devon Williams, after speaking to the police Sunday night, said he learnt that the constable retrieved the empty firearm from a desk and ran out of the building and was chased by other policemen on to Evelyn Street.
Shots were fired and Constable Williams and another policeman were hit. Williams died while the other policeman was treated at hospital.
On Monday, sources indicated that Constable Williams might have been shot by another policeman who was driving by, saw the chase and opened fire at the fleeing figure.
Pastor Williams said his son was shot three times in the upper body and neck.
The shooting, which took place around 10:30 p.m., drew a large crowd that lingered until early yesterday morning.
The new day brought protests from angry relatives and friends of the deceased.
Some of the protesters complained that he did not have to be shot, even if he had tried to escape, as his pursuers knew who he was.
One man who claimed to have been on the boat said the constable was drinking and this could have contributed to his actions at the station.
The BSI began its probe even as protesters at the station demanded justice and the intervention of Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson and Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington.
Deputy superintendent of police for St Ann, Clifford Heron, addressed the protesters to no avail.
"I also spoke to the father and grandfather of the deceased. We had an amicable meeting," Heron later told The Gleaner. "They seem to understand what is happening; I have told them that the BSI is on the ground doing its investigations and I am only asking for their cooperation so that the investigation can be completed."
The incident occurred exactly one month after another controversial police shooting that also involved police from Ocho Rios, St Ann. That shooting, in Buckfield, was caught on camera by a resident and aired on Television Jamaica, resulting in widespread condemnation of the killing despite support from residents of the community who described the deceased as a terrorist.
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