Cop killer in custody - Police to question motorist who sped away after mowing down police inspector

Up to late yesterday, the police had not charged the man who was behind the wheel of a motor car that struck and killed police inspector Mark Gibbs last Friday.

The driver turned himself in to the police early yesterday morning.

"He called a member (of the Jamaica Constabulary Force) (JCF) and said he wanted to turn himself in," Superintendent Calvin Blair, head of the Trelawny police, told The Sunday Gleaner.

Blair said the man later turned up at the Falmouth Police Station accompanied by a justice of the peace.

Three persons who were passengers in the car also reportedly provided statements to the police, while the vehicle has been seized by the cops.

According to Blair, investigators are collecting statements before deciding their next move.

DELIBERATE ACTION

Gibbs, of the Trelawny Police Division, was killed along the Clark's Town main road in Trelawny at approximately 4:51 p.m. in what initial reports suggested was a deliberate hit and run.

It was reported that Gibbs had signalled a car to stop in a routine police check when, according to persons who claimed to have witnessed the incident, the driver of a burgundy-coloured car swerved in the direction of the police inspector, hitting him down, and driving off without stopping.

Gibbs was pronounced dead on arrival at the Falmouth Hospital.

The incident was immediately condemned by Minister of National Security Robert Montague, who noted that Gibbs was the second member of the JCF to have died after being hit by a motor vehicle in the space of a week.

Police constable Mark Rose of the Mobile Reserve Division died under similar circumstances on Job Lane, Spanish Town, St Catherine, on Friday, August 12.

REMAIN RESOLUTE

Joining Montague in voicing sadness at the death of Gibbs was Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who urged members of the Police Traffic Department, and the force in general, to remain resolute in the conduct of their duties despite this incident.

In pledging the support of the Government to the family of Gibbs, Holness said: "The loss of any life, especially that of a police officer carrying out his duty, is not only a sad day for the force but also for the country, as we depend on these police officers to serve and protect us all."

Gibbs was a long-serving member of the JCF, and was assigned for many years as a close protection officer to the minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Derrick Smith.