BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE shooting-death of Nkoma Jacobs has generated a nation-wide debate on who is to be blamed, and many residents have requested that SKNVibes provide an analysis of the police’s evidence and circumstances surrounding the incident.
Jacobs was shot in the head during an alleged shootout with the police at approximately 10:40 p.m. on Friday, February 12, 2010 and was transported to the JNF Hospital, where he succumbed to his injury on the following morning.
When contacted by this media house, Police Press and Public Relations Officer, Inspector Vaughan Henderson said the incident occurred while officers from the District ‘B’ area were conducting Stop and Search Operations in the Boyds/West Farm area.
“Police reported that a vehicle ran the checkpoint and when the officers tried to stop it, it sped towards them. Someone from within the vehicle fired a gunshot at them and as the police returned fire the vehicle collided,” Henderson said in his initial statement to this media house.
He further said, “Two persons, Jason Carty (26) of New Road and Tristan Fredericks (23) of Lower Monkey Hill ran out of the vehicle but were caught by the officers. A third suspect, Nkoma Jacobs of St. Peters was injured and taken to the JNF Hospital and treated for a gunshot injury”.
In a release dated Monday, February 15, 2010 and headlined “Police investigates checkpoint shooting incident at Boyd’s”, additional information stated that Carty and Fredericks were released from police custody at approximately 12:26 p.m. the same day pending further investigations.
It also stated that one .38 Revolver with three rounds of ammunition and a quantity of vegetable material suspected to be cannabis sativa were found on the scene by members of the security forces and taken into police custody.
Additionally, the release informed that the Force’s High Command had ordered a thorough investigation into the facts and circumstances of the incident under the supervision of a senior police officer.
“The police reported that the driver of motor car PA-1157who was approaching the checkpoint that was established was ordered to stop when police suspected him of having in his possession illegal drugs, arms and ammunition. He refused to stop and someone fired a single shot from the car as they drove pass the checkpoint the police returned a single shot and the motor then lost control and collided with a wall on the northern side of the road. Two (2) persons then got out of the car and ran but were captured by the police shortly afterwards. Further enquiries revealed that Nkoma Jacobs was the driver of the car as he was found inside the car in the driver’s seat with injuries to his head. He was later transported to the JNF Hospital by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) where he was treated but later succumbed to his injuries,” the release read.
SKNVibes made numerous attempts to contact Carty and Fredericks to have their side of the incident, but was informed by sources close to them that they were advised by their lawyer not to disclose any information to the media.
However, as requested by the public, the first question to ask is, “Why were the two men released from police custody when a revolver was found at the scene?” If this were a fact, it then leaves one to question why the police did not charge them when it is publicly known that the Force has taken a stand of zero tolerance in all gun-related matters, especially in this case where a shot was allegedly fired from within the fleeing vehicle and a man died as a result. This therefore raises more questions of the police accuracy about the reports.
Secondly, who is the owner of the Revolver? Was it owned by the deceased? Did the deceased fire the weapon while driving, and if so, did he take into consideration that the security officers have more and better firepower? Was he under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, or was he diagnosed with bipolar disorder so as to run the checkpoint and shoot at the officers? Were the hands of Carty, Fredericks and Jacobs swabbed to find out if there was evidence of gunshot residue? Were the men released because they may have said Jacobs had shot at the officers knowing that he cannot defend the allegation?
Some residents in the area said they heard only one shot fired, and Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for crime, Joseph Liburd said officers had found one spent case at the scene but he did not disclose the calibre. Additionally, residents claimed that a sniffer dog was brought to the scene on the night of the incident but it did not detect the Revolver or the vegetable material. However, on the following day, security officers proved the dog wrong and they sniffed out the Revolver and a quantity of vegetable material. Again, why release the two men when it is known that the vegetable material is suspected to be cannabis sativa? Is cannabis sativa not classified as an illegal drug?
The most interesting aspect of the police’s report that reeks of irony is the alleged shot fired from within the fleeing vehicle. The release noted one .38 Revolver with three rounds of ammunition were found on the scene. Some Revolvers typically hold six rounds of ammunition in a rotating cylinder while some hold five and others a seven to 10-shot capacity. There are two types of Revolvers – single action and double action.
When a single action Revolver is fired, one has to cock the weapon by pulling back the hammer in order for the cylinder to rotate, so that the next round would be in the chamber and ready to be fired. But this is not so with a double action revolver. When a round is fired by pulling the trigger, it automatically cocks the hammer and the cylinder moves into position with another round in the chamber ready for release.
Additionally, there is a vast difference in the mechanism between small arms that carry magazines and those fitted with cylinders. When a round is fired from a gun that carries a magazine, the spent case or shell is ejected through the ejection slot fitted either on the left or right side of the firearm. The spent case is normally ejected at a 45-degree angle and travels for approximately 1.5 metres. However, a Revolver does not carry an ejector. Some Revolvers are fitted with removable cylinders and are reloaded by replacing the empty cylinders with filled ones, while others are fitted with swing-out cylinders and the spent cases are manually removed.
It is therefore logical to conclude that if a shot were fired from the Revolver, one of the three occupants in the motorcar had enough time to remove the spent case from the chamber. Finally, in relation to the spent case found at the scene, is it of the alleged shootist within the motorcar or does it belong to the security officer who shot Jacobs?
In an interview yesterday (Feb. 18) with WINN FM’s Andre Huie, Assistant Commissioner Joseph Liburd addressed the matter and declared that the two men were released to show that the police are not taking sides.
“We do not want to appear to be investigating one-sidedly…we are investigating this matter open-mindedly and we are looking at all angles of the investigations. We do not want anybody to accuse us of just taking the police side; so, instead of just holding the persons and charging them, we decided that the persons would be discharged pending further investigations. And at the end of the investigations we are hoping that the correct and appropriate actions would be taken…,” Liburd said.
He is also calling on anyone who knows what transpired on that fateful night to “come forward and give statements into this matter, because we have been hearing people saying that they saw, but yet they are not willing to come forward”.
Indeed, this is an excellent decision taken by the Force’s High Command, but there is more to the story than what was provided to the media by the PRO and the press release for dissemination to the public.
Apart from the above mentioned questions, there are many more that the public is asking and it will better serve the police to address them and not remain silent. Generally, the police operate by the book but there are a few who deviate from the norms. However, although the Assistant Commissioner has publicly stated that a thorough investigation is in process, it is known that the Force does not have an Internal Investigations Section and, will it not be better for the investigations to be conducted by an independent body so as to eliminate doubt?
As one visitor to SKNVibes’ website stated, “This incident reminds me of a shooting-death last year of a man found in a Frigate Bay yard.” On recalling this particular incident, a police officer was involved and, to date, there has been no report on that investigation.
Whenever a person is killed, lawfully or unlawfully, questions surrounding the incident should receive full answers from authority figures, for a life was lost and that is no small matter.
