In an uncommon move, this country's lead prosecutor on Monday visited the scene of the police fatal shooting of three men in Second Caledonia, Morvant to witness first-hand evidence gathered by investigators in the year-long probe.
A team of investigators, led by Supt Wayne Abbott, arrived at Juman Drive shortly before 3 pm and, using chalk and measurements, marked off the spots where four police vehicles had stopped as well as the spot where a gold-coloured Nissan Tiida with the three men had pulled over near the Auto Guru building on June 27, 2020.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC arrived an hour later and was briefed by Abbott and other officers on the scene. One of the officers, using his hands, showed how the police pointed their weapons at the three men and motioned as though he was using a pump action shotgun.
[caption id="attachment_907681" align="alignnone" width="1024"] DPP Roger Gaspard, centre, durig a visit on Monday to the scene where police shot and killed three men in Second Caledonia, Movrant on June 27, 2020. On right, is lead investigator Suptt Wayne Abbott. Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
The officer also raised both arms in the air to demonstrate how one of the men surrendered before he was shot repeatedly by officers assigned to the Inter-Agency Task Force.
One of the reasons for the visit, Newsday was told, was to examine the angles to help understand whether the officers who opened fire were under threat and were justified in firing their weapons.
Seven of the 18 officers who were on the scene fired shots that day killing the three men instantly. Other officers, assigned to the Guard and Emergency Branch, were seen removing, what appeared to be, spent shells from the roadway after the men were killed.
The officers who fired their weapons were sent on administrative leave by Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith last July and the other 11 officers were assigned to desk duty. Some of the officers are co-operating with investigators.
The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras from the house opposite and was shared on social media hours after. It ignited a wave of protests for three days in several parts of the country and prompted the Prime Minister to appoint a committee to look into the causes of neglect in vulnerable communities like Morvant.
On July 29, Abbott and his investigators re-enacted the incident in Morvant and blocked off vehicular access for nearly six hours. Monday's exercise ended by 4.30 pm.
The development in the case comes as Abbott and his team are tying up loose ends in the investigation into the deaths of Joel Jacobs, Noel Diamond and Israel Moses Clinton.
Jacobs was celebrating his 38th birthday on the day he was killed, and had only seconds before his death left his home, a stone's throw from where he was shot, to go and buy a bottle of rum. He was the only person to exit the car from the left back, and the video showed him with both hands the air and speaking to the officers when he was shot.
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