Another controversial police shooting.

This time, two brothers – Anthony and Maitland Gregory – and their 14 year-old sister emerged from the incident with gunshot wounds. They, along with another brother, Henroy Gregory, and a family friend, Robert Maragh, have been charged with shooting with intent and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

What really happened on the morning of August 21 on Williams Avenue in May Pen, Clarendon is still not clear.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), the police force’s information arm, a police patrol signalled a Ford Escort motor car “being driven in a dangerous manner” to stop. This was at about 1:45 am.

“Instead of stopping, the vehicle sped away with the police in pursuit,” the CCN said. “The car was eventually intercepted on Williams Avenue. Occupants in the vehicle allegedly opened gunfire at the police. The fire was returned and three men ran from the vehicle.

“After the shooting subsided, all five persons were apprehended. It was subsequently discovered that the 14 year-old girl, Anthony Gregory and Maitland Gregory had been shot. A Smith and Wesson revolver serial # BBT2623 with three live rounds was taken from the car.”

Not true, countered a cousin of the siblings. He said he witnessed the incident and gave his version to the Sunday Observer on condition that his name not be published.

According to the witness, his cousins and Maragh, who all live in Manchester, had travelled in the Escort, owned and driven by Henroy Gregory, to visit another cousin, Lilieth Mitchel, in Springfield, Clarendon on Friday, August 20.

The witness said that he and his girlfriend, travelling in their Toyota Corolla motor car, accompanied the Gregorys and Maragh early the Friday night from Springfield to May Pen where they spent some time.

When the Gregorys were ready to leave May Pen for Manchester near 1:00 am Saturday, August 21, they told the witness that they did not know their way out of May Pen and needed to be guided to the Bustamante Highway.

According to the witness, when they got to Williams Avenue during the drive to the highway, an unmarked Toyota Corolla drove up on their right side, its horn tooting. It was obvious, he said, that the driver was attempting to overtake the Escort and his car. The Corolla drove past both cars, then turned across the road blocking their path, the witness said.

“A man jumped out and then I realised that it was the police because I recognised him. He said ‘Bwoy, don’t move’ and instantly started firing shots at the Escort behind me.”

The witness said that a second policeman stood to the other side of the police car and fired shots at the Escort as well, while the third cop, the driver, stood by the police car without firing. The three men, he said, were not wearing uniforms.

“My girlfriend, who was crying, told me to try something.

“I said (to the policeman I recognised) ‘you don’t know me?’ and he said ‘go through’. He then moved the police vehicle and allowed me to pass. But after I drove off I realised the Escort wasn’t following,” the witness recalled.

He said he drove to the police station, about half-a-mile away, where he saw several policemen preparing to go to the scene of the shooting. “I told them that two policemen were there firing a lot of shots and they told me to come and show them the location.”

He said that as he was driving out of the station, he saw his cousin, Henroy, the driver of the Escort, who had run from the scene to the police station. “I shouted out to him and he asked me whether the people shooting on Williams Avenue were gunmen or the police. I told him I was escorting the police to the scene and told him to get in the car,” the witness said.

He said that when they arrived at the scene of the shooting, he realised that Anthony, Maitland and their teenaged sister were not there. Maragh, however, was still there.

After being informed that the two brothers and sister had been shot and injured and taken to the May Pen Hospital, the witness said that he sent his girlfriend to the hospital to see how they were.

The witness said that the police then arrested Henroy and Maragh and sent them to the station, while he remained at the scene. He said that the police did a thorough search of the Escort before removing it on a wrecker. “The police found nothing in the Escort,” he said.

The witness said that no charges were laid until 7:00 pm Saturday, August 21, when the police were sent to the May Pen Hospital to charge the injured brothers and sister and to guard them.

Anthony Gregory was shot in his head and thigh. He was transferred from the May Pen Hospital to the Kingston Public Hospital from where he was discharged on September 23. He obtained bail on that same day when he appeared in the May Pen Resident Magistrate’s Court.

Maitland Gregory, who was eventually admitted to the National Chest Hospital under police guard, lost his right kidney and suffered serious damage to his lung and liver, his father, Henry Gregory, told the Sunday Observer. Maitland was discharged from the hospital on September 16, and was granted $50,000 bail the same day in the May Pen RM Court.

The teenaged girl’s mother, Paulette Jamison, said her daughter’s colon and urethra were damaged by bullets. She was admitted to the May Pen Hospital under police guard, was discharged on September 23 and bailed that same day in the sum of $30,000. She has not been able to return to school because of her injuries.

Henroy Gregory and Robert Maragh were released on bail on September 7 in the May Pen RM Court in the sum of $500,000 each.