Former police constable Terrence Wallace, who is on trial for the murder of Shaquille Grant, yesterday said he did not shoot the 17-year-old and stuck by the claim that one of the teen’s friends had fired at him and other lawmen.
Wallace opted to give sworn testimony from the witness stand at the High Court after being called upon to lead his defence at the close of the prosecution’s case yesterday.
The indictment against Wallace is that on September 11, 2012, he fatally shot Grant at Caesar Street, Agricola, East Bank Demerara.
During his testimony, Wallace said his cousin, Travis David, had called and told him that a group of young men were in his [David’s] yard. Wallace, who was at the time performing patrol duties in the Kitty area, told the court that after speaking with his cousin he contacted other ranks from other patrols and they all went to the Agricola location. He and the other ranks were all uniformed, he said.
David had previously testified about hearing Grant and his friends—Romel Bollers, Troy Greenidge, Jamal Henry and Nicholas Eastman—planning to commit a robbery. As a result, he said he contacted Wallace.
In his testimony yesterday, however, Wallace only said his cousin had called and told him that some men were in his yard. He made no mention of being told of a plan to commit a robbery.
Wallace told the court that when he got to Agricola, he saw the young men under a shed in the yard and, with his firearm in hand, he shouted, “Freeze! Police!”
He said when he shouted, Bollers drew a gun from the waist of his pants and fired once in his direction as he attempted to run. Wallace added that he immediately returned fire by shooting one round in Bollers’ direction and the young man came to a halt and dropped his firearm next to his feet then knelt on the ground and placed his hands on his head.
According to the accused, almost at the same time there were two loud explosions of gunshots from behind him. “I could not say which of the ranks discharged the fire,” he said.
Wallace added that as he heard those subsequent shots, he saw one of the youngsters, whom he later learnt to be Grant, fall to the ground. Later, he observed injuries to the teen’s face.
He told the court that Bollers complained shortly after of being shot to the back of the head. He said he saw that the young man was bloodied and he, like Grant, was taken to the hospital by other ranks. According to the accused, the gun Bollers had was a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver.
Wallace noted that he was not hit when Bollers shot at him. He said that later that evening, he returned to the Tactical Services Unit, where he lodged his firearm and the remaining 16 of the 17 rounds of live ammunition with which he had been earlier issued to perform his patrol duties.
Bollers had previously testified that neither he nor any of his friends had any weapon when the police opened fire on them.
‘Posed no threat’
Asked by his attorney Sonia Parag if he had shot Grant, Wallace firmly responded, “At no time did I fire a round at Shaquille Grant.”
Under cross-examination by Prosecutor Narissa Leander, Wallace added, “Shaquille Grant posed no threat to me.”
Leander then asserted, “Shaquille Grant posed no threat to you and now he’s dead.” The accused, in response, calmly cautioned that not only were there other ranks behind him but he reminded that “two others were charged with me but they are not here.”
Lance Corporal Warren Blue and Special Constable Jamal Lewis were also charged with Grant’s murder but they were never arrested. Warrants had been issued for their arrest. While Lewis remains at large, Blue was shot and killed during a botched robbery on the East Coast of Demerara.
Wallace also disagreed with the prosecutor’s suggestion that he was the only policeman in the yard at the time he encountered the young men and shot in Bollers’ direction. Bollers had testified that Wallace was the only officer in the yard when he [Bollers] was shot at. He said that it was after he was shot that he saw the others.
He also disagreed with Leander that he gun-butted Bollers to the face. “I was nowhere close to Bollers,” he said.
In response to a challenge from the prosecutor, Wallace maintained that Bollers whipped out a gun and shot in his direction. The accused stressed that Bollers was not attempting to remove his cell phone but rather it was a gun with which he shot at him.
Bollers had testified that Wallace had ordered him and his friends to lie flat on the ground. He said he had asked the accused if he could first remove his cellphone from his pocket but that he did not respond. According to Bollers, he nevertheless proceeded to quickly remove the phone, before lying flat. He said it was at this point that Wallace dealt him a blow to the left-side of his face with his gun before immediately shooting him behind the head.
Asked whether gunfire is to be utilised only as a last resort, the accused answered in the affirmative. He, however, added that police are allowed to fire where they apprehend serious injury to their person and where they are unable to defend themselves by any other means.
The accused disagreed with the prosecution’s suggestion that he had made-up his story to cover-up what really happened on the day in question.
On Monday, Superintendent of Police and forensic analyst Stephen Greaves testified that he found no traces of gunshot residue on samples taken from Grant and his friends.
‘You know yuh time up’
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Stephen Telford yesterday read Greenidge’s deposition after he was permitted to do so by trial Judge Navindra Singh, following a voir dire that was conducted to determine whether to allow the evidence.
Greenidge has been listed as missing since last October.
Telford had prosecuted the case during the preliminary inquiry at the Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard from the deposition that Greenidge said he and the other boys were under a shed in the yard when Wallace walked up and told them not to move, before ordering them to lie on the ground.
According to Greenidge, Wallace was the only officer there at that time. He said they all obeyed the instructions given but added that Bollers attempted to remove his cell phone from his pocket before lying down.
He said that it was at that point that he heard a gunshot followed by Grant crying, “Officer, officer, I get shoot.”
According to his deposition, Greenidge said that Wallace then walked over to him and said, “You know yuh time up.”
Greenidge further said he started to beg, at which point Wallace told him to turn his face to the wall, after which he [Wallace] went back to Bollers and Grant.
According to Greenidge, another gunshot went off and when he turned, he saw Grant with a huge hole in his forehead.
Telford also read Greenidge’s response during Parag’s cross-examination, when he said of Wallace, “I saw you shoot Shaquille when Shaquille seh, ‘Officer, officer I get shoot.’”
The trial continues tomorrow morning at 9 when the prosecution and defence are expected to make their final addresses to the jury.
