Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
A POLICEMAN, who in jest tried to pull a prank on his colleague and best friend, is now in hospital after being shot in the abdomen at the Falmouth Police barracks house in Rock, Trelawny, on Tuesday night.
The injured cop, who is now a patient at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, has been identified as 23-year-old Constable Wills Mitchell.
"The matter will be investigated by the Professional Standards Branch. As it relates to the constable involved in the shooting, he has been taken off frontline duty," Inspector Clive Brown, acting crime chief for the parish, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Constable Mitchell was reportedly shot after he identified himself as 'bad man' and pushed open the door to a barracks room.
AN UNINVITED VISITOR
Reports are that Mitchell went to the house some time after 1:00 a.m. and woke up his 22-year-old roommate with knocks on the door. The roommate reportedly inquired who was at the door and the response suggested it was an uninvited visitor.
It is said that the roommate armed himself with his service pistol and stood behind the door. When Mitchell pushed open the door, his colleague fired a shot.
"It was a genuine case of (a) joke but unfortunately it turned out this way," a policeman commented.
The two policemen completed training together and have each served approximately two years in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
