THE shooting deaths of police corporal Michael Harriot and businessman Imor Khouri early last Monday morning inside the Knutsford Car Park in New Kingston, took a bizzare twist Friday when the police reported that they had slapped a double murder charge on a man who is alleged to have witnessed what was first reported to be a gunfight between Harriot and Khouri.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network, 32 year-old Rohan Birch of Portland was formally charged with the shootings following investigations by the Half-Way-Tree police.

Harriot, 45, and 30 year-old Khouri, a licensed firearm holder, were last Tuesday reported to have shot each other dead in a fierce early morning gunbattle inside the car park during an argument.

Police said Birch — himself a licensed firearm holder — was a witness.

After the incident, a man claiming to be an eyewitness told the Observer that a man who appeared to be a friend of Khouri took the guns from the hands of the injured men and handed them to the police.

The man, who also appeared to be a licensed firearm holder, was taken into custody by the police after they seized his firearm.

Harriot was assigned to the St Catherine South Police Division, while Khouri was from Bridgeport, St Catherine.