By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE BALLISTICS reports on the guns involved in the controversial shooting incident at Flankers, St. James are to be handed over to the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) today.
The reports will help investigators probing the incident, in which two old men were killed, to determine what weapons were discharged and consequently which members of the police party fired shots during an operation in the community.
"The ballistics expert with whom I spoke, gave me the assurance that by Thursday the ballistic test results should be ready for us," said head of the BSI, Acting Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Granville Gause.
He said the results would be passed on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to add to the evidence in Flankers file, which was submitted to the DPP during the week of November 9.
The acting ACP said the file contains in excess of 60 statements from residents of the community as well as from police personnel.
FORENSIC ANALYSIS
Investigators are also awaiting the forensic analysis of clothes and body samples. And they are still attempting to trace the two guns allegedly found at the crime scene - a .45 semi-automatic pistol and a 9-millimetre pistol - but the police say could take months before the origins of the firearms are determined.
Reports are that the local police are working in conjunction with firearms manufacturers and law enforcement personnel in the United States (U.S.) to trace the guns, as well as the hands through which they have passed.
OVERSEAS ASSISTANCE
"The National Firearm and Drug Agency here is conducting a trace and it is collaborating with its overseas counterparts in the U.S. You have to understand that firearms are not usually manufactured in Jamaica, so the trace must extend to overseas," said Acting ACP Gause. He is giving the assurance that even though it could take a long time for the trace to be completed, "the delay will not hamper the investigations."
In the meantime, even though the file on the Flankers probe was handed over to the DPP over two weeks ago, it still remains open, and persons with evidence/statements can contact the BSI on the matter.
Flankers erupted in roadblocks and demonstrations from October 25 to 28, in protest over the police's version of a shooting incident in the community which claimed the lives of David Bacchus and Cecil Brown and left a middle-aged woman injured.
