Colin Campbell, the 37-year-old man who police say was found with an unlicensed firearm and a quantity of live ammunition last week, was shot by a rank during the operation and his family has accused them of excessive force and a cover-up.
On Monday, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in a press release said that ranks carried out an intelligence-led operation around 11.00hrs at ‘Middle Walk,’ Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara, during which a suspect, later identified as Campbell, had a .32-calibre firearm with three live rounds of ammunition in his possession.
The police said the suspect was placed in custody at the Cove and John Police Station and the firearm, for which the serial number was filed off, was lodged.
There was no mention of the shooting in the press release and it is unclear why the information was omitted.
In a telephone interview with Sunday Stabroek yesterday, a family member of Campbell, who wished not to be named, said that while she was not denying Campbell’s actions, she believed that the law enforcers should also own up to their actions on the fateful day.
“I don’t have a problem with the police doing their job but I don’t see a reason for not telling the entire story. That’s my own concern. They went, they did whatever they had to do and whatever happened from start to finish they should put all of that in their statement…You are saying something else. I am seeing something else. There is no need to hide such an issue when it happened broad daylight,” the woman explained.
She said the family was also disappointed at the manner in which the police treated Campbell during his arrest, even after they had already relieved him of the weapon and ammunition in their possession. “You have it [firearm]. Let’s say he tried to run, you already have the weapon anyway. You could just get him, do him whatever you want, handcuff him or just guard him until… I heard that the vehicle to transport him wasn’t there as yet so that was the delay…But they shot him. They shot him even after the police had control over him,” she further stated.
The woman told Sunday Stabroek that the incident could have been handled more professionally without any injury being inflicted. “I think that was unnecessary because you already have the weapon…. I don’t see a reason they had to shoot him. Apart from that you kicking him up and all of that,” she said.
According to the woman, Campbell was at a shop in the area when the police visited and arrested him. “All of this took place after they took the weapon from him,” she said.
She related that based on what eyewitnesses related to her, Campbell attempted to escape from the officers and was then allegedly assaulted and shot.
“…They (police) already had him and like they were questioning him like ‘where you got this from?’ and so forth. And they started like kicking him, they box he up and all of that…..However, I don’t know what happen, he got up now to run and he run into a police and he and the police like they held onto each other and as the police try to get him back on the floor another police there shot him,” the family member explained.
Campbell was shot to one of his legs. “After he was shot….they start kicking him even more and that’s when the crowd got bigger and everyone start to have their say. You know it was unnecessary, too much force and they just went haywire after then,” she said.
By time she heard of the incident, the woman said, Campbell had already been transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital by the police.
She noted that although Campbell was experiencing difficulty walking due to the gunshot wound he sustained, he was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday and taken back to the police station.
The woman said she had to pay $14,000 for an ambulance to transport Campbell to the police station. “The reason why I had to get an ambulance, even though it was a police vehicle with an open back, it’s very short and if he is going to lay in there that means that the bottom where you close has to be open so he wouldn’t be in a good position. And it was also raining. So there is no way I could have allowed him to be transported like that,” the relative said.
Although she tried to get Campbell further medical attention, the woman said that Campbell was charged and remanded to prison on Wednesday. “After I went to the lawyer on Wednesday, she tried to get some information as to why he is being placed in a cell under those circumstances….I asked them for him to get some medical or something to be done because his foot was getting stiff,” the woman further noted.
“By time I was on my way I got a call saying that he is being transferred to Cove and John court,” she said.
The family is unaware if Campbell has been able to acquire further medical attention while in prison.
