Police statement says nothing about officers shooting man in back in Cedars  

The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force on Sunday issued a statement on the “incident in Cedars” on Saturday that resulted in a man being in hospital, reportedly with a gunshot injury to the spine. 

The police, however, did not say that officers shot the man, as his wife told iWitness News on Saturday that he had told her. 

The Police Public Relations and Complaints Department said that due to the recent occurrence of several reports of burglary, and theft of livestock and produce in the South Central Policing Division (SCD), the high command of the police force in conjunction with the divisional commander implemented various strategies to curb the situation. 

“On Saturday 02nd March 2024, at approximately 3:10 a.m., a party of police officers from the South Central Division (SCD) were on mobile patrol in an unmarked vehicle. 

“Some of them wore black polo t-shirts with the word “POLICE” printed on the front. While patrolling, the party received information about a burglary in the village of Cedars. The officers proceeded to Cedars and saw a motor vehicle parked suspiciously on the side of the public road several meters from where the burglary was reported to have taken place.

“The officers alighted their vehicle, shouted “Police, Don’t Move” and attempted to approach the parked vehicle. The vehicle reversed and then drove forward at a fast rate of speed towards the officers. Some of the officers had to take evasive action to avoid being struck by the vehicle. The vehicle sped away and then came to a halt. 

“The police approached the vehicle again. One of them opened the right front door and identified the party as police officers. The officers observed two … occupants in the vehicle, a female, who was in the passenger’s seat, and a male in the driver’s seat.  The driver told the police that he was injured. The police immediately transported the injured occupants to a medical facility for treatment.”

The release said that the police communicated with the family of the driver and acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams has ordered a probe into the circumstances surrounding the incident. 

“Anyone with information that can assist with the investigation is asked to contact the police at 784-457-1211, Emergency numbers 911/999, or any police station or police officer they are comfortable speaking with. Any information received would be treated confidentially.” 

On Saturday, a well placed source told iWitness News that the police officers involved admitted to shooting the 33-year-old man but said they did so because he drove a vehicle towards them.

A video has also emerged of police officers with their guns trained on the vehicle in which the man and the woman were when he was allegedly shot. 

The man’s wife told iWitness News on Saturday that she learnt of her husband’s injury when she woke up around 7 a.m. and saw several missed calls on her phone.

She said that when she returned the call, it was the Georgetown Hospital informing her that her husband had been shot and that she should go immediately to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

She told iWitness News that her husband told her that he was parked in a rented vehicle at the side of the road in the Mt Grennan area around 1:30 a.m.

She said someone else was in the vehicle but she is not sure who the person was.

The wife said her husband told her he saw a vehicle pull up, shining its bright lights into his vehicle

As a result, he did not see when men exited the vehicle but he later realised that they were at his car pointing guns at him, the wife said.

“He could not see any police uniform and when they came up to the vehicle, they did not identify themselves at all,” she told iWitness News.

“Naturally, I think any person’s reaction, you see a person come up to your car with guns pointed at you, will drive off.

“He drove off and they started shooting indiscriminately and he was shot in his spine. He lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road,” she told iWitness News.

She said the police then opened the door of the vehicle her husband was driving and identified themselves as police officers by showing their badges.

“But they identified themselves as police after they shot the man,” she told iWitness News.

“That is absolutely ridiculous. You do not shoot someone without identifying yourself as police. There are so many other things they could have done to intercept, to stop him or whatever. We are business owners. We are upstanding citizens,” she said.

She said doctors told her that her husband was shot “in the spine” and gave a prognosis but she did not want to disclose it to the media at that point.

“We are exploring all of the options. The neurosurgeon had a conversation with me already but that is not something I have spoken to [him] about,” she told iWitness News but said he cannot move his lower body.