Dunkirk residents dismiss police’s gunfight claim in fatal shooting
Published:Tuesday | October 1, 2024 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Residents of Bryden Street in Dunkirk, Kingston, are rebuffing claims by the police on the scene that a resident, who was killed during an alleged firefight on Monday afternoon, had engaged the security forces in a shootout.
Dead is Towado Welsh, a resident of the tough East Kingston community.
The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has commenced a probe into the police fatal shooting.
At the same time, residents are crying foul, labelling the policemen involved in the incident as cold-blooded murders.
A man, who said the deceased man was his friend, told The Gleaner that he carried Welsh in to the Elletson Road Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) last Friday, September 27.
“I carry him last week Friday a Elletson Road CIB and di detective dem say dem nuh want him and release him. Not even two hours we deh a di station. Mi nuh like dem killing deh. A suh unuh waan come ‘bout ya and kill anybody and get weh with it, tell lie say a shootout,” the irate resident said.
A woman told The Gleaner that, before Welsh was shot, he had been speaking with police personnel.
GROSS UNPROFESSIONALISM
“A gangsta thing dem a deal with ... . The youth see the [police vehicle] a come down the road. Him deh pon him phone and nah pay dem no mind. ... The policeman say to him squaddie, ‘A him (Towado) ... yuh ‘fraid fi kill him?’,” the resident alleged, claiming explosions were heard shortly after.
The residents accused the police team of gross unprofessionalism.
“When dem done, dem same one jump inna the police van and a fire pure shot, when the man done dead already. That a di gun dem a go plant pon him, say him fire shot ... . If dem did really catch him with a gun, you still wouldn’t have to kill him but we wouldn’t have any argument ‘cause it illegal,” a resident said.
While The Gleaner team was on the ground, the residents emotions were running wild with many yelling at the police, saying, “Unuh a wicked! Unuh a murderer!”
Checks by The Gleaner revealed that Welsh was recently released after serving time in prison.
He was also said to be very influential in Dunkirk and West Kingston.
Up to press time, the police had not yet released an official report on the incident.
The community of Dunkirk has been engulfed in a turf war between criminal gangs for several years, resulting in shootings, murders and the displacement of residents.
According to INDECOM, as at September 19, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has handed down rulings for charge in 22 cases investigated by the watchdog entity.
The cases involve members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Jamaica Defence Force, and the Department of Correctional Services.
The most recent matter to go before the court involves a policeman who was charged with the 2023 fatal shooting of a man on Harbour Street in Falmouth, Trelawny.
Constable Junior Howlett was offered bail in the sum of $900,000 when he made his first appearance in the Trelawny Parish Court last Friday.
He is to return to court on October 16.
Reports are that, on November 4, 2023, Howlett and 25-year old Adju Hall got into an altercation in the vicinity of a nightclub.
It is alleged that the policeman discharged his firearm.
No firearm was retrieved from the deceased after the incident.