-departmental charges may be filed against cops over handling of report
More than two weeks after a policeman fatally shot 16-year-old Kelvin Fraser, there is no word on whether the rank will be charged and upset relatives said they are not pleased with the situation.
Yesterday this newspaper was told that the report of the pathologist was finally handed over to the police. The file is now expected to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for her advice and a decision could be made later this week or early next week. Meantime, a source said that departmental charges are likely to be filed against senior officers at the station in relation to how the report was handled. Among other issues, this newspaper was told that the rank who shot Kelvin was not trained in the use of a shotgun.
On June 7, Kelvin, a fourth form student at the Patentia Secondary School, was fatally shot during what police said was a scuffle with a rank who was attempting to arrest him. However, two youths who were present at the scene have since told Stabroek News that they heard no sounds of a scuffle. Further, one youth said that Kelvin was complying with the order of the policeman, when he was shot at close range.
An autopsy found that Kelvin died of shock and haemorrhage from laceration of the lungs caused by gunshot injuries. The teenager was shot in the left side of his chest at close range and several pellets were retrieved from his body. The police had said ranks were responding to a report that a group of males were harassing girls at the school when Kelvin was shot. Yesterday relatives expressed frustration at the pace of the police probe. “I can’t see (Kelvin) going down the drain like that”, one relative said saying she could not understand why it was taking so long. She vowed that they would ensure that justice is done.
Both of the youths, who were in the police vehicle when Kelvin was shot, recounted their experiences to this newspaper. They did not want their names published. “All that we could hear is the police tell Kelvin ‘whey you went running so far, bai’ and the last word Kelvin sey was ‘Me’?. The police call he and he jump over a drain and we hear a loud gunshot”, one had recounted. He denied that there was a scuffle. “If scuffling was going on the other police (in the van) woulda step out the vehicle and part it”, the witness said adding that the two other ranks did not do this. The youths, who were in the back of the police pick-up, admitted that they did not see when the shot was fired but they were able to hear the words and there was no sounds of any scuffle and the shooting took place quickly.
They had recounted that they were on the road, outside the Patentia Secondary School compound when the police vehicle pulled up. Both were in casual clothes. One said that when the pick-up pulled up close to them, an armed rank came to him, slapped him and ordered him into the back. “He point the gun to me friend and tell he don’t run”, the teen recalled. He said he was bundled into the back of the pick-up by the rank who then slapped the other youth several times. They were placed to lie on the floor of the vehicle.
The first witness said that another policeman armed with the shotgun jumped into the pick-up and pointed the gun to his face. “I move it back with my right hand and he put it back in front me face and he sey he gon shoot me”, the boy recalled.
The vehicle then drove off quickly with the rank, sitting with one foot in and one out. He said as they drove the same rank said “look one of them dey” and the vehicle slowed down and he jumped off. The vehicle then stopped and they listened to what transpired next, the boy recalled. “All that we could hear is the police tell Kelvin ‘whey you went running so far, bai’ and the last word Kelvin sey was ‘Me’?”, the youth recalled. He said the rank called Kelvin who was on the other side of a drain to come to him. According to the youth, Kelvin then jumped over the drain, going towards the rank and the pick-up and that was when they heard the gunshot. He was adamant that there was no scuffle saying that they would have heard a sound and the two other ranks would have gotten out of the vehicle.
The second witness, who was reluctant to speak and only recounted briefly what had happened, said he had not heard the words. He said at the station the police told them not to speak of the matter.
The first witness said after hearing the shot, they both raised their heads and saw Kelvin “fluttering” in the drain.
He recalled that the rank pulled Kelvin out of the drain by his feet, spread his legs and began to search him. “Then he knock the vehicle and sey y’all come out. Come help fetch the boy in the vehicle”.
The teen recalled that he lifted Kelvin’s legs while the other youth lifted one shoulder and the rank the other and they placed Kelvin in the vehicle. Kelvin was still alive at that point and he was placed in the middle. The vehicle left the Third Street, Patentia Housing Scheme spot where Kelvin was shot and proceeded to where two armed ranks with the three other youths were waiting.
One of the youths there had recounted to this newspaper that after hitting him, a rank placed him and another youth to lie on the road and threatened that the vehicle would run over them. He said the vehicle’s wheel stopped a foot away from his head. After being ordered into the vehicle, the police drove to the station and ordered out the five youths and left for the hospital.
The ranks did not inform the station sergeant of the shooting, this newspaper was told. The third youth had said that a policeman warned him to omit certain things from his statement if he wanted to be released and he did as he was told.
Kelvin’s relatives, friends and other citizens have called for justice for him saying that the policeman who shot him should be charged. Two protests were held at the Wales Police Station and in Georgetown to demand justice for the slain teen. Kelvin was laid to rest on June 14.
