(Trinidad Guardian) An Enterprise man was shot dead by police in what officers described as a gunfight yesterday morning. The man, identified as Jade Phillip, was said to be a known offender.
According to the police report, police were on patrol along Enterprise Street, Enterprise, around 9.35 am on Friday when they stopped a car, registration PDP 3245.
Police said as they walked up to the car, they saw Phillip, who was in the driver’s seat, point a gun at them. One officer fired at Phillip and the officers said Phillip got out of the car and tried to run away. The officer said they tried to arrest him but he began to struggle with them.
During the struggle, Phillip was said to have ‘gained an advantage’ on one officer, grabbing his Galil firearm and pointing it in the direction of another officer.
Police said one officer fired at Phillip again. He was handcuffed and taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police said one gun- a pistol- was recovered. No police officer was injured during the incident.
But in contradiction to the police’s account, in a 35-second-long video circulating on social media, a man is heard asking police officers “Why alyuh shoot the man for? What alyuh kill the man for?” The man goes on to say “The man had no gun, they bounce him, look he car dey.
The man shows what appears to be a silver Toyota hatchback vehicle being guarded by several heavily armed police officers.
The man then says, “As the man come out the car, the man hit the man about six boy,” to someone off-camera. A number of residents were also seen gathered at the scene, several shouting at the officers and many of them without face masks.
