Months after interviewing the only survivor of the fatal police-involved shootings of Isaiah Roberts, Leonardo Williams, and Fabian Richards last July, Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Director David West says investigations into the incident are not yet complete.
In a brief telephone interviewnyesterday, West said he could not comment on whether anything impeded the probe as investigators are still working on the case.
Roberts, 17, Williams, 17, and Richards, 22, were among four men allegedly chased and shot by police along Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, on July 2. A report stated that around 3.20 am, officers of the Western Division were pursuing a white Toyota vehicle they believed had armed men from Cocorite.
Several units intercepted the vehicle at the corner of Independence Square and Chacon Street, resulting in an alleged shootout.
In the end, three suspects were shot dead and a fourth, a 16-year-old boy, was seriously injured. Two other survivors, who were unharmed, were held by police but released without charge. Police claimed they recovered a Smith and Wesson pistol in the vehicle. Autopsies revealed the men suffered gunshot wounds on their back, back of the head and buttocks.
A few weeks ago, acting Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob told Guardian Media, that the police’s probe into the fatal shootings had slowed after investigating officers were forced into quarantine.
Meanwhile, West said the PCA also continues investigations into other recent fatal police-involved shootings. They include the deaths of reputed drug lord Phillip “Boss” Boodram, Malick Paul and Gerard Thorington of Goodwill Road, Enterprise along Esperanza Road, California, on September 10. Boodram spent 17 years in prison for kidnapping and burying businesswoman Samdaye Rampersad alive. Last June, appellate judges Alice Yorke-So Hon, Mark Mohammed and Prakash Moosai upheld an appeal from Boodram and set him free.
Investigations continue into the fatal police-involving shootings of Ricky Taylor and Kwame Wallace from Enterprise, Chaguanas, and Kerwin Alexander from Bon Accord, Tobago.
“All investigations are still continuing. We are looking at all avenues and all aspects of the investigations,” West said.