BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – REFERENCE a number of “high profile” shooting cases which involved police officers, Commissioner of Police Ian Queeley said the police have done their part in completing the investigations and they now wait on the Director of Public Prosecutions to make the next call.
SKNVibes conducted an interview with the CoP and questioned him about three specific incidents: those of Obi Baron of Dominica, Constable Brian Paquette and that of Timoy Henry.
Obi Baron was shot and killed by a law-enforcement officer on October 1, 2015 during a drug bust at Conaree Beach.
Police reports suggest that two men, who were travelling aboard a vessel, arrived at Conaree Beach and having been challenged by police, began shooting at them. The Police responded likewise and Baron was shot and killed.
Three other individuals were arrested and charged for the bust; while carrying out a search of the vessel, officers found compressed marijuana weighing a total of 124 pounds.
Commissioner Queeley told SKNVibes that the Police’s investigations into this incident have been completed and the file has since been forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“…The investigation was completed and the matter forwarded to the Office of the DPP. In cases like those, a coroner’s inquest would be held. We cannot set the court’s agenda. The court will set the time when they will have the inquest. The coroner’s inquest would determine outcome, whether someone was negligent, or somebody should be charged, or if it was death by accident or justifiable homicide…”
Brian Pacquette of Dominica, who was a Constable in the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force was shot in the line of duty on June 23, 2016.
According to information which this publication received, Officer Pacquette and one of his colleagues responded to a larceny report at Greenlands and on returning from the scene, observed a suspicious-looking individual in vicinity of Prickley Pear Alley whom they accosted.
A physical confrontation ensued which resulted in the individual relieving one of the officers of his service weapon. It was initially reported that this individual shot Pacquette in his leg but investigations revealed that he was accidentally shot by the other police office.
Constable Pacquette lost his life little less than a month later while receiving care and treatment in Trinidad.
Commissioner Queeley said this case would also be forwarded to the Office of the DPP but the Police Force is awaiting documentation from the forensic pathologist who performed Pacquette’s autopsy.
“All of the investigations from the Police end are completed and we are awaiting from the Forensic Pathologist…some documentation before the file could be forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.”
Timoy Henry, an athlete, was shot on June 27, 2016 while at The Strip in Frigate Bay. He was shot in the neck by a constable of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.
Commissioner Queeley told SKNVibes that regarding that incident, “the file has been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions…”
SKNVibes understands that the officer remains on active duty and disciplinary charges are pending.
