Trinidad police deny killing Jamaican man

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad  – Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams has denied that police officers were involved in the recent killing of three people, including a Jamaican, in Laventille, Port of Spain.

Since the incident, the Laventille community has been in a state of unrest and the police have called on the government to consider a state of emergency in the area, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper.

The uproar in the area began when an unknown group of heavily armed men reportedly opened fire on the Besson Street Police Station about 10 pm Thursday, shortly after an alleged gang leader, Dillon “Bandy” Skeete, was killed.

According to Williams, Skeete was one of three people who were killed following a shooting incident along Desperlie Crescent, Laventille. The other two men have been identified as Tremin Thomas of Jamaica and Joel Tash.

When the Express visited Desperlie Crescent yesterday, residents described the killing of the three men as “an execution” and they believed that law enforcement officers were the persons responsible.

“The preliminary investigations that we have conducted clearly points to the fact that the persons involved are not law enforcement,” Williams said at a press briefing yesterday.

He said investigations will proceed with “an open mind”.‏

source: jamaica observer