By Noel Thompson, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
PATRICIA MCFARLANE, the sister of a man who police shot dead in St. James last Saturday, has disputed police reports that her brother had attacked the lawmen with a machete. George McFarlane Jnr, 31 year-old labourer of Great River in St. James, was shot twice by a police party at about 3:30 a.m. on December 14. Police reported that he attacked them with a machete.
In the wake of the disputes over the police's initial report, officers from the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) collected statements surrounding the matter and have commenced their investigations.
A police Corporal and a constable, who were involved in the shooting have been taken off front-line duties pending the outcome of the investigations.
Senior Superintendent Owen Ellington, the Commanding Officer in charge of St. James said yesterday that investigations were being conducted independently of the St. James Police Division.
"We are giving all the co-operation necessary in dealing with the matter. Anyone who felt they saw or could have seen anything from where they were at the time of the incident, I am inviting them to tell what they know to the BSI," SSP Ellington said.
Patricia McFarlane visited The Gleaner Western Bureau's office yesterday along with her brother's three children to tell her side of the story.
"My brother did not hide behind any bush and attacked the police, as they have claimed. There is no bush at the spot where he was shot," she said.
ATTACKED THEM WITH A MACHETE
Cons. Peter Salkey, the Constabulary Communications Network liaison officer for St. James had said that the policemen had arrived on an assignment in Great River. He said they parked the service vehicle and were walking when a man jumped from behind bushes and attacked them with a machete. "After exerting all efforts to restrain him, he was shot," Cons. Salkey said. Miss McFarlane said her brother had attended a party in the community when an argument developed between himself and another man. She said a machete was used to chop at her brother, who flung a stone in self-defense. The stone, however, missed its target. She said the man telephoned the police and informed them that George was armed with a gun.
The police arrived at about 3:30 a.m. "I was in my shop and I heard an explosion. I opened the door and saw a police car marked H51. I ran outside and I saw my brother lying face down in a pool of blood. The police were still sitting in the car when I went outside. It was at this stage that I saw one of them exited the car," Miss McFarlane stated.
She questioned the policemen why they had shot her brother. She said one of them said they did not intend shooting him, as he was not the one they were firing at. She added that it was her and a cousin who picked George off the ground and placed him inside the police vehicle.
"The police did not produce any machete in my presence, although they later claimed that they were attacked by a machete-wielding man," Miss McFarlane told The Gleaner.
Meanwhile, Mr. George McFarlane, Snr, a retired policeman said yesterday: "It makes me feel ashamed of the police. How will they gain the confidence of the people that they serve and protect?"
He said some police personnel were upset about the report which the police had put out that the residents too were also very restive.
Mr. McFarlane said he had also been threatened. "I received a telephone call on Monday evening. Someone said: "This is the police. If you and your witness try anything both of you will be murdered."
