By Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
UP TO late yesterday detectives at the Montego Bay CIB were carrying out investigations into the shooting death of a young police Constable.
Constable Rene Williams, about 20 years old, died at the Cornwall Regional Hospital yesterday, following a shooting incident at the Grandiosa Hotel in Montego Bay yesterday afternoon.
Details surrounding the incident were sketchy up to press time, but police say that at about 4:30 p.m. Constable Williams and other Constables were at room 209 at the hotel, when an explosion was heard. Unconfirmed reports are that the young cop was allegedly involved in a game of Russian Roulette and had been playing with the firearm for some time.
Constable Williams was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He received a single bullet to the head. When investigators arrived at the scene a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver was seen on the floor.
Senior detectives are questioning Constable Williams' colleagues. The officers hands were swabbed for gun powder residue and their firearms seized for forensic testing. Constable Williams is the first policeman to die by the gun in St. James since the start of the year. He and his colleagues are attached to the Quick Response Team in Kingston and were on special duties in Western Jamaica during the Spring Break festivities. The Gleaner has learnt that Constable Williams had graduated from the Police Academy in December last year.
