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Probe into police killings - Commissioner to get report on St Catherine shootings
published: Thursday | January 18, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody xVlvo="true">
Lynford Simpson and Glenroy Sinclair, Gleaner Writers
A woman examines the burnt-out police jeep that was set ablaze by angry residents protesting the fatal shooting by the police of two men in their community of Glengoffe, St. Catherine, on Tuesday night. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer
Forty-three-year-old Neville Morgan struggled to hold back the tears as he spoke about his 71-year-old father Edward who, along with a 43-year-old man, was shot and killed by the police under questionable circumstances in the quiet rural district of Glengoffe, St. Catherine, Tuesday night.
Neville, the eldest of Morgan's seven children, literally stumbled upon his father's body which lay sprawled on its back in the Glengoffe square for hours after he had taken at least one bullet to the head. Neville was on his way home from work in Red Hills, St. Andrew.
"I don't even know how it happen. He was a peaceful, hard-working old man," Neville muttered while being consoled by friends and neighbours. Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas should receive a preliminary report of the controversial killing of the two men before noon today.
This is no joke
"This is no joke, the report will be on the commissioner's desk today, 11:30 a.m., the latest," said Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Granville Gause, in charge of the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI).
Yesterday, at least eight detectives from the BSI were dispatched to the Glengoffe community where the incident took place. Mr. Gause told The Gleaner that three statements were collected from witnesses. The policemen involved have been removed from frontline duties.
Following the controversial shooting, chaos reigned in Glengoffe from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning as word quickly spread that the men had died. The two policemen implicated in the shooting had to run for their lives through a gully which runs behind a building in the town square. This, as scores of angry residents converged on their service vehicle. The vehicle was torched, roadblocks were erected, and residents even threatened to burn the nearby police station.
The shooting reportedly took place about 9:30 p.m., just as Mr. Morgan was closing his small board shop which he operated in the town. According to the residents, a police jeep with two policemen aboard entered the square and accosted Patrick Austin, a 43-year-old dreadlocked man said to be of unsound mind, who reportedly had a ganja spliff. Astin reportedly became boisterous, shouted insults at the lawmen while telling them to "leave him alone", according to eyewitnesses. He reportedly "shouted fire at Babylon" and was shot.
However, according to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), members of a police party were conversing with a motorist on a roadway at Big Square when one of them was attacked by Austin with a machete. "The policeman took evasive action but was again attacked and he opened fire hitting Austin," the CCN said. The CCN claimed it was subsequently discovered that Mr. Morgan who was an innocent bystander had been shot. Both men were pronounced dead at hospital hours later.
However, the residents are adamant that Mr. Austin, also called 'Lightning' of a St. Mary address, had no weapon. They claimed the machete was taken from Mr. Morgan's shop. Among other things, Mr. Morgan sold sugarcane and coconuts at his shop. He actually fell on top of a few lengths of sugarcane with several coconuts almost touching his body.
When police reinforcements finally arrived about
published: Thursday | January 18, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody xVlvo="true">
Lynford Simpson and Glenroy Sinclair, Gleaner Writers
A woman examines the burnt-out police jeep that was set ablaze by angry residents protesting the fatal shooting by the police of two men in their community of Glengoffe, St. Catherine, on Tuesday night. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer
Forty-three-year-old Neville Morgan struggled to hold back the tears as he spoke about his 71-year-old father Edward who, along with a 43-year-old man, was shot and killed by the police under questionable circumstances in the quiet rural district of Glengoffe, St. Catherine, Tuesday night.
Neville, the eldest of Morgan's seven children, literally stumbled upon his father's body which lay sprawled on its back in the Glengoffe square for hours after he had taken at least one bullet to the head. Neville was on his way home from work in Red Hills, St. Andrew.
"I don't even know how it happen. He was a peaceful, hard-working old man," Neville muttered while being consoled by friends and neighbours. Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas should receive a preliminary report of the controversial killing of the two men before noon today.
This is no joke
"This is no joke, the report will be on the commissioner's desk today, 11:30 a.m., the latest," said Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Granville Gause, in charge of the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI).
Yesterday, at least eight detectives from the BSI were dispatched to the Glengoffe community where the incident took place. Mr. Gause told The Gleaner that three statements were collected from witnesses. The policemen involved have been removed from frontline duties.
Following the controversial shooting, chaos reigned in Glengoffe from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning as word quickly spread that the men had died. The two policemen implicated in the shooting had to run for their lives through a gully which runs behind a building in the town square. This, as scores of angry residents converged on their service vehicle. The vehicle was torched, roadblocks were erected, and residents even threatened to burn the nearby police station.
The shooting reportedly took place about 9:30 p.m., just as Mr. Morgan was closing his small board shop which he operated in the town. According to the residents, a police jeep with two policemen aboard entered the square and accosted Patrick Austin, a 43-year-old dreadlocked man said to be of unsound mind, who reportedly had a ganja spliff. Astin reportedly became boisterous, shouted insults at the lawmen while telling them to "leave him alone", according to eyewitnesses. He reportedly "shouted fire at Babylon" and was shot.
However, according to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), members of a police party were conversing with a motorist on a roadway at Big Square when one of them was attacked by Austin with a machete. "The policeman took evasive action but was again attacked and he opened fire hitting Austin," the CCN said. The CCN claimed it was subsequently discovered that Mr. Morgan who was an innocent bystander had been shot. Both men were pronounced dead at hospital hours later.
However, the residents are adamant that Mr. Austin, also called 'Lightning' of a St. Mary address, had no weapon. They claimed the machete was taken from Mr. Morgan's shop. Among other things, Mr. Morgan sold sugarcane and coconuts at his shop. He actually fell on top of a few lengths of sugarcane with several coconuts almost touching his body.
When police reinforcements finally arrived about
