An eyewitness has substantiated the account that Shaquille Grant, 17, was gunned down by police in Agricola, according to AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes, who said the party would share the evidence with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in order for criminal charges to be laid.
Both the AFC and the PNCR have visited Agricola in wake of Tuesday’s incident, which saw Grant, of Lot 72 ‘BB’ Eccles, East Bank Demerara fatally shot some time after 11 am at Third Street, Agricola, where Romel Bollers, 19, was also shot. The police force has said that ranks opened fire after they were first fired upon and that a gun was later recovered.
The parties condemned the actions of the ranks involved in the shooting, which are being seen as another blow to the worn image of the force, coming on the heels of the intense criticism of its conduct at Linden, where three men were killed in July after police opened fire on protestors there.
“We have been able in less than 24 hours to gather a signed statement from an eyewitness. In the circumstances of what we gathered, we’ve also interviewed other witnesses from the scene who have confirmed this sequence of events and there is absolutely no reason why criminal charges shouldn’t flow within the next 48 to 72 hours,” Hughes, also an attorney, said yesterday, while adding that the eyewitness is too petrified of the police to have her identity revealed.
“Once we have provided adequate security for the eyewitness… and we have adequate assurances that her physical safety will not be compromised, we will certainly be sharing her statement with the other statements we have,” he added, later noting that other eyewitnesses provided the party with a photograph of the officer who shot the teen and also photographs of the crime scene.
He said evidence acquired by the AFC will be shared directly with DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack and he expects that charges will be laid against perpetrators. “My confidence in the police to do anything is marginal. What the AFC’s investigation team will do is as far as possible, gather the evidence so that there will be enough evidence available for criminal proceedings,” he said.
Stabroek News was told that police launched an operation in the community on Tuesday after receiving information that a gang was planning to commit a crime. Despite the police’s account that when the ranks arrived at Third Street someone opened fire, resulting in an exchange that left Grant dead, eyewitnesses had said that one officer was seen standing over the teen as he fired about six bullets into his body. Police in a press release later said that a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver was recovered from the scene.
‘You ain’t dead yet’
Hughes yesterday relayed the account of the eyewitness, a woman, who said that she was in her home at 11.55 am when she heard a single gunshot. On peeking outside, she observed several police officers surrounding three young men who were lying on the ground.
“One of those young men was holding his stomach, grimacing in pain saying “ow my belly, my belly”. She said one of the policemen said “‘you ain’t dead yet?’ and at that stage she left to get her daughter because she was afraid,” Hughes related.
He said she subsequently heard several gunshots and on her return, she saw the body of the young man who was previously grimacing with pain lying motionless. The policemen were reportedly standing over the three men with their guns drawn.
The witness told officials of the AFC that one policeman was completely agitated and he had to be urged to calm down by the other officers, who kept telling him to “rest yourself.
“They left the motionless body on the ground bleeding for at least 15 to 20 minutes and then they dragged the body along the ground with the chest of Mr Grant on the ground and threw him into the back of the vehicle before departing,” Hughes said.
According to Hughes, Grant was shot twice; to the stomach and to the head. “The second [shot] that entered his head, directly in the middle of his forehead, was fired from an angle immediately above him. So it would appear that he was executed while lying motionless or almost motionless on the ground. The eyewitness confirmed that she did not see any other weapon apart from the police weapons that were there,” he added.
He pointed out that Grant holds no record of conviction for any criminal offence in Guyana and noted that the AFC considered the case another police execution. “We in the Alliance for Change wish to express our condemnation of the excuse offered by the police which is the men were planning a crime because I think the citizens of Guyana need to be very keenly aware that even if people are sitting down conspiring to commit a criminal offence, that is not a reason for them to be executed by the police,” he stated.
Hughes said that during the examination of the crime scene by party officials yesterday, no bullet holes or any other evidence were found to support the claim that any weapon was fired by any of the young men. Bollers, he further stated, is currently in police custody and when contacted Senior Superintendent of Police Winston Cosbert could not provide any clarification. “I spoke to Mr Cosbert who could not provide me with any explanation as to why he was arrested. He said he was unaware of any arrests connected to yesterday’s incident,” he said.
Further, Hughes declared that there are elements within the police force that are completely uncontrollable. “It is clear that the citizenry in certain neighbourhoods can no longer expect the police to protect and serve them and we believe this is a very dangerous assault on the rule of law in Guyana. We will be taking this up most vigorously and aggressively because unless all citizens can feel that they are protected and served by the police and will not be executed by them, we will find ourselves in very grave circumstances,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a statement the PNCR reported that its leader Brigadier David Granger, who is also opposition leader, condemned the killing of Grant and called on the Police Commissioner to interdict ranks involved and the holding of an inquiry.
Granger visited Agricola on the evening of the shooting and he expressed condolences to the grieving mother and relatives.
The statement noted that he was able to see the garments and congealed blood where the boys were sitting under a shed in a yard.
“Brigadier Granger blamed Grant’s death on the recklessness of the Guyana Police Force. He called on the Commissioner of Police, Mr Leroy Brumell to: immediately interdict the subordinate officer alleged to have done the shooting; conduct an inquiry into the incident; meet with the parents of the boy who was killed and those who were injured and implement measures to ensure that minimum force is used to arrest persons alleged to have broken the law,” it said.
It was added that in this case, there was no evidence that the youths had actually broken the law and there was, therefore, no justification for the extreme measures employed, such as using lethal force.
Granger also said that the Agricola community had been stigmatised during the crime wave from 2002 to 2008. He called on residents to show the same steadfastness they demonstrated during the crisis ten years ago and to resist attempts to criminalise their youths.
The PNCR also pledged to continue to stand with the families and victims until justice is served.
‘Justice’
At an AFC news conference, Grant’s mother, Shonett Adams, said she wanted justice.
“All I need for my son is justice. I don’t even want the policeman in jail, truly speaking. That was my only son. I did everything in my power to give my children what is best. Even if they want to offer some sort of money, money can’t replace my child’s life. My child already gone. Even if he [policeman] gets 25 to life that would not give me any satisfaction…” Adams said.
She noted that her son was not the first to be killed in the community in such a manner. She made reference to a 1996 incident, during which Marlon Black was shot and killed.
The woman said that police later justified their actions by claiming that Black was armed with a knife. However, she said she had witnessed that event and he was dressed only in a green army pants and held nothing in his hands as he was shot.
As a result, she called on the acting police commissioner to thoroughly investigate her son’s death and in “the right way.” “Do it by the book, satisfy the people of this nation… The other four guys should be released from police custody, they’re innocent,” she said.
The post-mortem examination on Grant’s body is expected to be conducted on Friday morning.
At Adams’ Agricola home, family gathered and recalled in disbelief what had happened, reiterating several times that Grant would have been celebrating his 18th birthday yesterday.
“I don’t know any of the young men to be involved in criminal activities,” one aunt said, disclosing that the name of a third boy who was beaten by police is Jamal Henry.
“Jamal is work. Romel father got dredge in the bush, Shaquille was going to sign up with the army today… they are not bad boys,” she cried.
“We cannot trust these police. [Home Affairs Minister] Mr Clement Rohee has no power over the Guyana Police Force and that means he got to go. These criminal elements within the force make the government look bad. They are out of control,” aunt of Grant, Melissa Grant, said.
Grant had graduated last year from the Community Skills Programme, an initiative by the Home Affairs Ministry to help youths in various communities. He was eager to join the Guyana Defence Force but was unable to do so until he was 18. He had planned to do so yesterday when he would have celebrated his birthday.
“I never see someone with so much love in their heart. He could have his last and someone ask him he will give without thinking twice. He was always contented, never fussy over clothes or anything like other young people,” his aunt added. The boy was said to have enjoyed dancing and football and was a member of the Rhythm Squad Football Team.
Meanwhile, the mother of the wounded Bollers, Carol Bollers, at the AFC press conference, told reporters that she considered the shooting inhumane and very cruel. She recalled that after receiving the news as the incident was transpiring, she rushed to the scene where she saw her son. But she was barred from getting too close to him.
“They didn’t have anything to say because when the incident took place I was in Third Street and I said that is my son sitting there and they said, ‘we are not looking after that right now.’ I continued standing to see the result and they took him to the Georgetown Hospital but they didn’t have any answers to give anybody,” she said.
