The man who died shortly after being shot by police at an empty Anira Street lot, was identified yesterday morning as Keith Mitchell, by his relatives.
Mitchell of Lot 17 Lombard and Broad streets, Georgetown died shortly after he was shot in the left thigh by police early Thursday morning. A post-mortem examination has not yet been conducted but hospital sources suspect that Mitchell bled to death.
Reports were that Mitchell had stolen a number of items from Police Traffic Headquarters, Eve Leary. He was detected by ranks as he attempted to escape with his booty and a chase, which ended at Anira Street, ensued.
Mitchell’s relatives said they are not satisfied with the details provided to them by police and they don’t believe that Mitchell was stealing anything from the police compound. They learnt of Mitchell’s death yesterday morning and were initially informed that the man’s body was taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Parlour by police. However, Mitchell’s body was at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) mortuary where relatives identified it.
“We are not satisfied with what the police told us,” a close relative of Mitchell said yesterday. “There are many things we don’t understand about this entire thing.”
Police, in a press statement issued on Thursday night said they were investigating an incident that occurred around 4.45 am that day at Anira Street, Queenstown. Mitchell, police alleged, had stolen a windscreen off a minibus that was lodged in the compound at Traffic Headquarters and was subsequently shot in his left thigh by a policeman. He later died at GPH while receiving medical attention.
Investigations, police said, revealed that Mitchell had been seen earlier riding a bicycle in the vicinity of Traffic Headquarters. He was subsequently seen leaving the Traffic Headquarters compound with a front windscreen that had been taken off a minibus. Ranks on duty challenged him but he ran away.
Mitchell, according to the police, was pursued and the policemen caught up with him at Anira Street, “and during efforts to arrest him he was shot to his left upper thigh by one of the ranks who was armed with a service firearm”. The stolen windscreen was recovered along with the bicycle which was found in the Police Sports Club Ground, which is next to Traffic Headquarters.
“I still don’t understand how he [Mitchell] get from Eve Leary to Anira Street,” the relative said. “I just don’t understand how he reach all the way over there and get shoot and the police not explaining anything to us.”
The relative explained that they’d last seen Mitchell early Thursday morning but he was “missing” for the remainder of that day.
Meanwhile, details of the circumstances leading to Mitchell’s death are still not clear. Police in their Thursday press statement had reported that ranks pursued the now dead man to the Anira Street location. However, they released no details of the actual chase.
Traffic Chief Neil Semple was unavailable yesterday for comment on how Mitchell was able to breach the headquarters’ security and for further details of the actual chase from Eve Leary to Anira Street. Crime Chief Seelall Persaud was also unavailable for comment.
An Anira Street resident, who lives in the vicinity of the empty lot, had recalled hearing one gunshot shortly after 5.30 am on Thursday.
“I was already up and about when I heard this one gunshot,” the resident had said.
“When I peep out I see this chap lying on the ground with blood coming from his leg…there were two policemen with him.”
