-constable was shot in head by assistant superintendent
Police Constable 20631 Kelvin Shepherd was shot dead by Assistant Superin-tendent of Police, Ivelaw Murray just around 12:55 yesterday morning at the Springlands Police Station after being called out to work while he was off-duty.
The 23-year-old Shepherd of Rosignol, West Bank Berbice was asleep in the barracks when Murray, the officer-in-charge of the Springlands Police Station woke him up and a heated confrontation reportedly ensued.
As a result, Shepherd sustained gunshot injuries to his head and was rushed to the Skeldon Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Murray of 83 Phulwarie Street, Better Hope, East Coast Demerara had subsequently walked over hurriedly to his living quarters nearby and shot himself. While coming out of the barracks he was accosted by another policeman and asked what had transpired. He did not answer. A suicide note to his mother telling her he loved her and that he was “sorry” was found in his living quarters. Sources say the note was dated June 27th.
Stabroek News learnt that ranks who were on duty heard the shot and thereafter saw Murray, 32, walking over to his living quarters. Upon checking they found Shepherd covered in blood. They rushed him to the hospital and after returning they checked Murray’s home nearby and found him dead.
In a release yesterday, police said that “Murray who was in charge of the Station, shot Shepherd to his head with a Force service .38 revolver in the Barrack Room at the Springlands Police Station under so far unclear circumstances.”
It said too that during investigations into the murder, Murray’s body was found in his home at Hashim Street, Springlands, at about 3:25 am with a suspected gunshot wound below the chin. The force’s firearm was recovered next to the body. The bodies are at the Skeldon Hospital mortuary.
Earlier, a group of policemen was heading to No. 48 Village in a vehicle driven by Murray when it struck a cow and was badly damaged. The vehicle had to be towed back to the station. The ranks were on their way to attend the wake for police constable, Vickram Singh who was gunned down in Georgetown on Friday night.
‘Was not supposed to work’
Shepherd’s father, Gertley Shepherd told Stabroek News yesterday that his son who was not assigned to duty on Saturday was supposed to attend a relative’s funeral at Mahaicony. He however cancelled his funeral plans saying that his “boss called and said he must report to work.” Gertley did not know that was the last he would be seeing his son alive.
According to him, “…That means that he (Murray) premeditate to do this to my son. I want to know how the force is operating like this. He is a senior officer and if he (Kelvin) had done something he should have disciplined him.”
He said too that Shepherd, the second of four children never complained of having any problems with Murray. He recalled that sometime around 2 am he heard a car blowing in front of his house. It was another police constable who is based at Fort Wellington and was closely acquainted with his son, bringing the news that Shepherd “was involved in an accident.”
Shepherd’s mother, Patricia Shepherd said after she saw the officer she kept telling him “ah hope you ain’t bring bad news about meh son.” She said the officer held her hand and told her “me and Kelvin go back a long way; I will take you to see him.”
When she got to the Skeldon Hospital she saw her son’s body in the mortuary and her worst fears were confirmed. His face was covered in blood. She said officers at Springlands handed over his gold chain to her. They also told her that “there was a heated argument and the policeman (Murray) shot him and shot himself.”
Meanwhile, Gertley said he cannot understand why the police kept his son’s cellular phone. While awaiting word from his wife about the condition of his son, he said a senior police officer in West Berbice came to his house around 3 am to give him his “sympathy.”
The grieving Gertley lamented that “some big one must look into this situation. Gun is not plaything – they cannot use it to do what they like with it. I am waiting to see what would come out this.”
He told this newspaper too that, “My son was a young man and I did not prevent him from joining the force because he loved it. I said alright if that is your desire then I would give you… but look how he end up.”
He reminisced that his son “was always a disciplined child and one of the best in the family and that is one of the things that really hurts me. He would always be in my memory – no matter what I tell him he always smiling”.
He pointed out that when Shepherd came home last Thursday he got someone to help clean up the yard. According to him “from the last week in June I had four deaths in the family… I am in a tight situation but I’m battling… the Lord gon give me the faith.”
“…He seemed alright.”
Former Senior Superin-tendent Daniels was in deep distress when Stabroek News visited him at his son’s Lot 83 Phulwarie Street, Better Hope home.
“…He seemed alright,” Daniels said referring to the last time he’d seen Murray.
His son he said had been a member of the Guyana Police Force for about 16 years. It was his position as a police officer, Daniels said, that inspired Murray to join the force. Murray is the second of his four sons, Daniels said, and was an upbeat, family oriented man.
Daniels described his son as a very dependable person when asked what one quality he always associated with his son. Murray, he said, was a University of Guyana graduate and a hard worker with goals towards which he steadily worked.
Last Friday, Daniels recalled, was the last time he saw his son. Murray, he said, was stationed in Berbice but lived at the Better Hope address with his wife and their child (almost two-years-old). His son, he explained, would come home every weekend if he could manage it.
Murray, he told Stabroek News, spoke with him that day (last Friday) like normal and gave no indication that anything was bothering him. At the time (just after 2 pm yesterday) Daniels said that he was still unaware of “the facts” and could not comment on what had happened at Berbice.
His eldest son, he said, had travelled to that county to speak directly with police there.
Murray’s wife told Stabroek News that they’d been married about a year ago. However, the woman was unable to speak much at the time.
