By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
'JUSTICE' WAS the word on the lips of residents of the tiny community of Freeman's Hall, southern Trelawny, yesterday as they reflected on the death of an 85-year-old man during an alleged shoot-out between police and gunmen Saturday night.
The police said that Wilfred Clifton Edwards was killed about 9:30 p.m. after men they were searching for opened fire on them.
"A police team was on special assignment searching for wanted men who were terrorising the area," Sgt. Andrea Brown, Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) liaison officer for Trelawny, told The Gleaner. "They went to the area where the men were said to be and it is alleged they were fired on. The police returned the fire and during the gun battle Mr. Edwards, who was on his way home, was hit."
NO GUNMEN IN COMMUNITY
However, residents, who wept openly as they related the incident to The Gleaner during a tour of the area yesterday, said there were no gunmen in the community. They charged that the elderly man was deliberately killed by the police.
Lucille Edwards, a sister of the dead man, said he was asthmatic and was resting on a rock when he was killed. "He was coming up from the road and he was going to his house," she said with tears flowing down her face. "Since he has asthma he was taking a rest on the rock and the police come and just shoot him," she said.
RASTAFARIAN TARGETING
"The police say we have bad man in the area, but I don't know what they talking about," Victor South, another resident, said. "Is in bush we living and if we had gunman here we would have more crime."
Glenville Hall said the dead man, also known as 'Coochie', was shot because of his hairstyle. "The policeman them say they were looking for a Rastaman that was going on bad in the area," he said. "So they shoot him because him have dreadlocks."
Victor South, Edward's nephew, said that, after his uncle was killed, the police refused to call any of his relatives. "I was up the road when I hear the gunshot them," he said. "And when I was going home, my little boy see something like somebody lying down on the rock and when I went and look I saw it was my uncle."
The residents say they will not rest until those responsible for the death of the old man are brought to justice. "We are not going to rest unless we get justice for Coochie," one resident said to the applause of a large crowd that had gathered during The Gleaner's visit. "And if the police don't tell us nothing good about it, we are going to take the matter to court."
The Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) is investigating the incident.
