District constable's colleagues shocked by killing, circumstances surrounding his death
Published:Thursday | August 31, 2017 | 12:00 AMJason Cross
The killing of District Constable Roshane Walderston by a team of policemen on Wednesday night in Drewsland, St Andrew, has plunged some of his colleagues into a state of speechlessness and shock.
Official police reports are that at approximately 10:30 p.m., they received information from their control centre that a group of suspicious men had converged at an area in the community. Walderston was standing among a group of men within the community when he was killed.
"It is confirmed that he is a district constable. What I can tell you is that they went there, and while in the process of searching, one of the persons said he was a police officer. The policemen then proceeded to search in order to clarify. Then there was a tussle. He pulled a firearm, a 9mm pistol, and the police officers responded accordingly. He was shot and later died," Corporate Communications Unit head, Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Lindsay confirmed that the pistol, which had four rounds of ammunition, was an illegal firearm.
"We are always saddened when we lose a member. There are mixed views because we never want a colleague to die like that, but if members operate in a particular way, then that can put them at risk. It is something that we really don't condone. When I speak to persons who worked with him, they speak highly of him as a person and as a worker," she said.
A policeman who worked closely with Walderston expressed disbelief and sadness at the incident, noting that it was hardfelt by all his colleagues.
"There is not much I can say at this time. The whole thing is a shocker," he said.
"We all know 99 per cent of a person until he shows [a bad] one per cent. Whatever the one per cent is, sometimes it drives us into disbelief. He was a fairly good person. Yes, he will be missed. We had counselling sessions this morning (Thursday)."