St Ann Cop accidentally shot by colleague

A police constable attached to the St Ann Division was accidentally shot during a police operation along the AGR Byfield Highway in St Ann’s Bay Saturday evening.

The officer, who was shot in the thigh, has been admitted to hospital and is reportedly in a serious but stable condition.

The incident occurred as the police were in the process of accosting three men in a vehicle, a report stated.

According to the report, a group of policemen were travelling in a service vehicle along the AGR Byfield Highway sometime after six o’clock Saturday evening when they saw a silver-coloured motor car travelling in the same direction, about three vehicles ahead, travelling in a “dangerous, reckless, and careless manner”.

The police gave chase and signalled the driver to stop, and he complied. As the vehicle stopped, one man immediately alighted from the front passenger seat and opened fire at the lawmen, who took evasive action and returned the fire.

The gunman, however, managed to escape in a nearby gully. It is unclear if he had been injured by the police fire.

The police then turned their attention to two other men who were in the vehicle, who were accosted and they and the car searched. It was during that time that the M-16 service weapon of another constable was discharged accidentally, injuring his colleague.

The injured man was taken to hospital

The two men in the vehicle, ages 37 and 31, of Priory and Seville Heights addresses in St Ann, were subsequently arrested and taken into custody.

The scene was processed by the police Area Two Scene of Crime Division and the Independent Commission of Investigations.

-Carl Gilchrist