BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A young man, who was allegedly shot today (Dec. 6) by a member of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, died shortly after while receiving treatment at the Joseph N France General Hospital.
Reports reaching SKNVibes states that at approximately 12:15 p.m. the young man, whose name was given as Akeem Marryshaw of Prickley Pear Alley in Basseterre, was shot at the junction of East Independence Square and Cayon Streets.
On arrival at the scene, this media house found a large crowd had gathered while the young man was lying on the sidewalk, bleeding profusely from a wound to the left side of his upper body.
Speaking to the media, Police Press and Public Relations Officer, Inspector Vaughan Henderson said, “There has been a shooting incident on the corner of West Independence Square Street and Cayon Street just in the vicinity of LIME. The details into the facts and circumstances of this shooting incident are somewhat sketchy at this time.
“And, as you can see, a number of police officers from the Criminal Investigations Department, the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force and the Anti-Gang Unit and the SSU are on the scene actively conducting the investigations. As soon as more information are available I will make that information available to you.”
When asked by this media house if the shooting was executed by a law enforcement officer or civilian, Henderson said, “At this stage I do not know beyond what I have told you. And as I say, you can see the officers are actively involved in their preliminary inquiries, and as soon as I leave you here I’m going to go and get some more details. So, I’m asking you to discharge your responsibilities and duties as media personnel responsibly so that we can curtail as much rumour mongering as much as possible. We have been suffering recently from a number of rumour mongering and false reporting; and so I am asking you at this stage, while the investigation is in its preliminary stage, to wait until the official information is disseminated.”
One eyewitness, who was outside Her Majesty’s Prison waiting to visit an inmate, said there was a confrontation between two groups in the vicinity of the Potential Bar on Cayon Street.
“Members of the two groups were arguing boisterously and it seemed that they would have gotten into a fight. However, a police officer came out of the Basseterre Police Station and was approaching them, but they ran away along West Independence Square Street.
“Shortly after the officer’s arrival, a young man was seen running after another young man with a meat cleaver in his hand. He was about to chop the young man with it and the police officer said something to him, but I did not hear what he said. Suddenly I heard the sound of gunfire and the young man fell to the ground and a lot of blood was seen on his left side,” the eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness told this media house that they were calling the police during the confrontation between the two groups at the Potential Bar, but the police took a very long time to respond.
“We were calling the police for the longest while and they wouldn’t come. There was even a police officer on the scene observing what was happening, and someone asked if he was going to do something and he just continued talking on his phone,” the eyewitness said.
The eye witness added that a police officer finally came some minutes after and had intervened when a man was chasing another with a meat clever in his hand.
“The police officer was holding the guy with the meat cleaver but he pulled himself away and was about to attack the other guy and the police fired a shot after him, which catch him in his stomach. The other guy kept on running all the way down Independence Square Street,” the eyewitness said.
The eyewitness also said that an Emergency Medical Technician and nursing students, who were present at the scene, rendered assistance to the young man before the arrival of an ambulance.
At press time SKNVibes was still waiting on the Police PRO for the promised official information for dissemination.
