kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Police will consult the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) office for advice on the fatal police-involved shooting of Pleasantville father Jamie Walker in the next two to three days.
Southern Division Senior Supt Richard Smith told Guardian Media yesterday that head investigator, ASP Bertie, recorded statements from witnesses and the officers who responded to the shooting on October 7 in San Fernando. Smith said Bertie is tying up loose ends this week.
According to reports, Walker, 39, of Pleasantville, was with his wife, Heather Sedeno-Walker and three of their children, ages 13, eight and four, when they pulled into the car park in front We Supermarket along the Naparima Mayaro Road in Cocoyea Village. Sedeno-Walker said she went to purchase food at an outlet across the road and heard an argument.
She looked and saw Walker and a security guard scrambling. She said the man pulled out the gun and she ran inside a nearby pharmacy and heard two gunshots.
Video footage of the incident showed Walker and the guard, an off-duty Special Reserve Police officer, fighting. The officer pulled out a gun and fired two shots at Walker at close range. Several people witnessed the incident.
Sedeno-Walker said she later walked back outside and saw Walker standing and talking with blood on his shirt. Walker, a former soldier, then lay down in the car park. She said the officer did not want her to go to her husband, so she called for an ambulance, but he died before help arrived.
Southern Division police and a team from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region Three responded, taking possession of the officer’s firearm and processing the scene.
The officer, attached to the Guard & Emergency Branch stationed in San Fernando, is currently on administrative leave.
Smith said the Professional Standards Bureau and the Police Complaints Authority continue to supervise the investigation.
