Commissioner of Police Enville Williams, on Saturday, announced a sweeping, law-driven crackdown on criminal networks following the murder of three men in Kingstown late Friday night, just hundreds or yards from the police headquarters.
In yet another audio speech published on social media, Williams described the killings as a “deeply troubling escalation in the gun violence confronting our country”.
In a separate press statement, also on Saturday, police said they responded around 11:45 p.m. Friday to reports of multiple gunshots in the Chinatown area.
On arrival, officers discovered three men with apparent gunshot wounds.
The men, all of whom died at the scene, were later identified as Claude John, 50, a cart operator of Largo Height; Karon Bowens aka Twin, 34, and Giovannie Grant, 23, both labourers, of Ottley Hall.
Police are asking people with information that could assist the investigation to call 456-1810, 457-1211, 999, 911, or the nearest police station.
“All information received will be treated with the strictest confidence,” police said.
The killing took place in Chinatown, the area across the street from the Central Police Station, where shops and other businesses are located between the Solidarity Carpark and the fish market in Kingstown.
People often socialise in the area, where the activities include drinking, smoking, eating and gambling.
Reports are that two masked gunmen approached from the seaside behind the public washroom and opened fire, killing the three men at the scene.
The two Ottley Hall men have a history of violent offences and people with information about the workings of criminal elements in the country have theorised that John was not a target of the shooting.
In his statement on Saturday, Williams acknowledged widespread anger and fear and conceded that previous assurances from the police may have left some sceptical.
“I know that Vincentians are angry. I know that many are afraid, and I know that the public has heard assurances from the police force before, so today I will not offer another assurance,” he said. “I will tell you what we know, what we are doing, and what we now require from you, the public.”
Triple murder near police barracks
The police commissioner described the incident as a “brazen attack” carried out “in the heart of the capital, and within proximity to the police barracks.”
He said the location, execution, and apparent confidence of the attackers demanded the “full attention of the police force”.
“So they have it,” he declared.
‘The old playbook is closed’
No further operational details were disclosed in the statement.
However, Williams used the address to signal what he described as a fundamental shift in how the Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force will confront organised and gun-related crime.
“You believe you understand how [the] police force operates. You think you can predict our response, map our patrol, and anticipate our next move based on how things used to be. You are fundamentally wrong. The old playbook is closed.”
He said that “a highly coordinated, multifaceted assault is on the way” against those responsible and the criminal networks that support them, but stressed that he would not disclose where the police are looking, who they are targeting, or what tactics are being deployed.
“You will not see us coming. You will not be able to guess our strategy, and you will have nowhere to pivot.”
‘We do not need to break the law to break you’
The Commissioner framed the response as an offensive grounded strictly in law, insisting that every move will be anchored in constitutional and statutory authority.
“This offensive will be executed with absolute crushing legality,” he said. “Every asset, every intelligence capability, and every statutory power available under the Constitution of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is being weaponised against you.
We do not need to break the law to break you. The law itself is our greatest weapon, and we are unleashing its full, unrelenting weight against you.”
Williams said tactical teams, investigators and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are operating in “absolute alignment” as part of what he called a change in the “psyche” of policing.
The aim, he said, is to use the “strict letter of the law” to make the world of targeted offenders “incredibly cold, incredibly narrow, and entirely unlivable”.
Warning to accomplices and facilitators
Williams warned that anyone assisting the perpetrators — by harbouring them, holding their weapons, driving their vehicles, or keeping their secrets — would be treated as active participants in the killings.
“The law views you as an active participant in bloodshed. The statutory consequences coming for you will be indistinguishable from those coming from the shooter,” he said.
He promised no “loophole, no technicality, and no procedural escape hatch”, and said investigators are “building an airtight, unassailable case designed for maximum disruption and long-term incarceration…
“We are not playing for headlines. We are playing for conviction in the court of law.
Look over your shoulder. The shadow behind you is the entire legal apparatus of the state, and it will not stop until justice is fully served.”
Appeal to the public
While declining to ask for “blind faith” from citizens, Williams urged law-abiding members of the public to judge the police by their actions in the coming days and to end the culture of silence that allows gunmen to operate.
“The rule of law cannot protect a society that protects its killers. Criminals cannot survive without a community to hide in. They rely entirely on your silence to escape the justice system. That ends today.”
He called on citizens who know names, houses, vehicles, weapons, or sudden changes in someone’s routine to “place that evidence in our hands immediately”.
Williams pledged that the police would protect informants’ identities “fiercely under the law”, but insisted that the public must choose between tolerating criminals and demanding lawful peace.
“Give us the facts, and we will deliver the lawful reckoning,” he said.
Condolences to families and assurance of justice
Turning briefly to the victims’ relatives, Williams extended “heartfelt condolences” and promised a “wholehearted and swift response” aimed at bringing those responsible to justice.
“Justice might appear slow, but rest assured, it is sure as the sun shines,” he said.
‘The guns will not govern this nation’
Williams sought to reassert state authority and the rule of law over armed groups.
“This country belongs to the decent, law-abiding citizens of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It does not belong to thugs with guns,” he said.
“They have misread our commitment to due process as weakness, and they have brought chaos to our doorstep. We are now taking the supreme authority of the law directly to theirs.
“The guns will not govern this nation. The law will prevail, and the absolute sovereignty of the state will be maintained. I thank you.”