Police say that robbery does not appear to be the motive in the shooting in Belmont Friday night that left three people, including a businesswoman, dead inside her shop.
Investigators, however, have noted the similarity to those killings and one three days earlier when a businessman was gunned down on the patio of his home in Green Hill around noon on Tuesday.
“… while we are not ruling out the possibility of anything, on the face of it, it doesn’t look like it,” Deputy Commissioners of Police Frankie Joseph said at a press conference in Kingstown on Saturday, when asked if robbery was a motive in the killings.
He said he had instructed acting Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for crime fighting, Trevor “Buju” Bailey, to head the investigation into the triple homicide.
Around 8:30 p.m. Friday, Lesline Davis and her patrons, Joel Browne and Demeon Cumberbatch, were killed in the shop when gunmen entered and began firing indiscriminately before fleeing the scene.
A 7-year-old boy, said to be one of Davis’ relatives, and an adult male were also injured.
On Tuesday, Stephen King aka King-O, 76, of Green Hill, was sitting on the patio at his home, near where he operates his appliance business, when a gunman approached him.
Neighbours heard King shouting, “What I do you? What I do you? Please don’t kill me!” as the gunman opened fire on him then fled, leaving the mortally wounded businessman behind.
King was rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, where he died shortly after.
‘dismay and … disbelief’
Bailey told the media at Saturday’s press conference that a lot of people have expressed “their dismay and the disbelief that such an event can take place at that time of the day, almost midday in the community”.
He said the public was cooperating with police in their investigation and he urged people to give the police any information that they think could assist the investigators, promising that it would be treated “with the strictest degree of confidentiality”.
Bailey said the killings in Belmont were “shocking, not only to us as law enforcement, but to the entire country of St. Vincent and Grenadines, where masked men entered the shop and, indiscriminately, they fired upon all of the occupants who were in the shop, resulted in three deaths, two injuries”.
He said the killings should not go unsolved and urged the public to continue to cooperate with the police, adding that up to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, police had received about 60 phone calls with information.
“Let us investigate this matter together in a partnership … Each and every victim of this crime deserves justice, and the justice should be swift and uncompromising, aided and abetted by the entire country of St. Vincent in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” Bailey said.
‘we are connecting the dots’
Responding to a question about the likelihood of the Belmont killing being a random act, Bailey said that investigators met at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, about five hours after leaving the crime scene.
“We looked at the killing in Green Hill. We looked at the killing last night in Belmont, and preliminarily, we have seen some similarities,” Bailey said, adding that he could not go into details.
“… but we are connecting the dots. We are seeing things that are of interest to us, and as I said, we will pursue them to the very end. But we’re seeing some similarities. We have been able to connect some dots.
“The dots, when connected, will create a line. A line drawn on the map will take us to several places, and we are prepared to go there.”
It was noted to the detective that within the space of three days, two business people, both of them sole traders, were shot and killed in circumstances in which it appeared that their assailants did not demand anything.
He was asked what he would say to other sole traders or business people, generally, who might be wondering if they might be next.
Bailey noted the state’s responsibility to ensure public safety, but said that individuals should also report to the police if they think they might be at risk.
“So, if there are persons who have received threats, if there are persons who know that they or their family may be involved in any sort of conflict with side A or side B, rather than keeping information within their circles, … include law enforcement at an early stage so you can have some sort of intervention,” Bailey said.
Bailey said the investigations were still in their infancy, but detectives were pursuing all leads.
“It will be premature of me to say at this stage, the exact line of inquiry that we are pursuing,” he said, adding that at least 15 officers were in the field pursuing leads into the Belmont killings.
“So, I do not wish, at this moment, to say to you that we are doing XYZ, but just to say that the public has been giving information, and we are extremely grateful, and we are pursuing those…”
Serious issue of unlawful firearms
Bailey said that as a resident of SVG whose family walks the streets of the country, he shares the concerns of the public.
He said the police force “will dispense its resources to the full extent to provide the citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines the security that as far as we can give and we will go even the extra mile, we’ll put in the extra hours to ensure citizens’ security.”
Bailey said he was “deeply disturbed” by the use of firearms in the country.
“We have a serious issue with regards to firearm offences in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said, adding that while police have made some dents through arrest and seizure, there are still too many firearms in the wrong hands.
“… we have firearms that are taking people’s lives. And I appeal to the general consciousness of St Vincent and the Grenadines that it is before all of us eyes what these illegal firearms are doing to our society, to our communities.”
He said it is the general responsibility of every resident to help ensure that SVG remains “a safe place for all of us, our children and our families, to go about their daily lives in an environment that is relatively safe”.
Police understand the ‘shock and the fear’
Meanwhile, Joseph said the police understand the “shock and the fear” that the killings have caused in the country.
“… we want to assure the public that this matter is being treated with the utmost urgency and seriousness,” said Joseph, who was leading the police force in the absence of acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams, who was overseas.
“Our officers and investigators are working around the clock to gather evidence, interview witnesses and determine exactly what happened,” Joseph said.
He said that although the investigation was in its early stages, the police were holding the press briefing to keep the public informed.
SVG recorded five homicides in three days, bringing the homicide count this year to 15, following 54 in 2024 and a record 55 in 2023.
On Wednesday, Ronaldo Adams, 21, of Glen, died in the hospital after being chopped multiple times during an altercation, allegedly over plumrose.
On Saturday, Bailey announced that police have charged DeAndre McDonald, a 26-year-old barber, also of Glen, with murder in connection with Adams’ death.
McDonald is expected to appear in court in Kingstown on Monday.
Extortion of businesses for protection.
The problem with some of the people who head the security units in St vincent is the incident of being chatty is pervasive at every level. The public is fearful of giving them information for fearing that information would be leaked. Another problem is the lack of security camera in sensitive areas. Security camera is an aid to fighting crimes as it provide real time information.
You might potentially be dealing with a serial killer or an extortionist. However, these investigations must be dealt with seperately unless their are substatiating facts that links them together. Arriving at assumptions can potentially derail these investigations. An extensive CCTV trawl can give rise to substatiating evidence. I have all confidence the Police will solve these crimes as complex as they appair to be. Our Police Force deserves all our support.
The Police is underresourced and under equipped to deal with existing Crimes. SVG needs to conduct a strategic defencw and security review to provide the Government with a holistic picture to better align public expenditure to meet the emerging threats. This review will highlight the infrastructural, social, material and economic investments that needs to take place to improve the security situation in SVG.
The police in SVG is a royal joke. The crimes get worst everytime. The criminals are bolder each time. This Buju fellow is the head clown and circus leader. People keep running from SVG for greener pasture not to waste their lives away. All these good for nothing people are only making the country worst.
I have no confidence in the CID department. Crimes are on
the rise and the crime solving ratio is dismal at best. It’s a truism that if one were to subtract the crimes the incidents of crimes where the perpetrator leaves a smoking gun then the statistics even become more dismal abd disappointed.
The question that one has to ask him or herself, is whether or not the CID Department has the necessary crime fighting tools at its disposal tosolve major crimes? Recently the incidents of crimes have become more sophisticated and brazen.
The CID department are not equipped with proper forensic labs where DNA can be done in real time. Evidence left behind by criminals are sent abroad for analysis. Real time analysis and results of these test remains a normative goal. The government has not seen the importance of developing home grown laboratories capable of carrying out these test.
Vincentians are tired and show signs of lethargy when these conversations and conferences are held by ACP Bailey. The same song is being repeated when another one bites the dust. “We are asking the public to report whatever information they are aware of.”
The public is weary of giving information to ACP Bailey and the CID for fear that the very information would be released by informal means such as close family associates.
Releasing confidentiial information can jeopardize the very lives of the informer. Evidence to date suggest that more resources are directed towards petit crimes such as stealing someone one mangoes than are required, while major crimes are neglected.
Folks no wonder why crimes in St Vincent are on the upward trajectory. There is a need to rethink and remodel our crime fighting methods and techniques. The current system is clearly not working.
There is a need to adapt our crime fighting techniques similar those of other jurisdictions that are successful. Then and only then Vincentians can sleep comfortably in their own sanctuary.