MICHAEL Haughton, the police constable who was shot dead in the volatile Payne Land community in South-West St Andrew on April 8, was not killed by gunmen as the constabulary had earlier reported, but by one of his colleagues.

The confirmation was made by the police six weeks after the shooting, and after residents of the community denied a police report that cops on foot patrol were fired at by gunmen and during the gunfight Haughton, 25, was shot dead.

“It was friendly fire and the matter is still under investigation,” director of communications for the police force, Karl Angell, told reporters at a press conference held by the Major Investigation Task Force at the police commissioner’s office in St Andrew yesterday.

A report on the status of cases involving slain cops since 2005 revealed that the bullet recovered from Haughton’s body was fired by a member of the constabulary.

Residents of Payne Land, a violence-prone enclave in the prime minister’s constituency, were angry after the police originally reported that Haughton was killed during a confrontation with gunmen after the police responded to reports of gunfire in the area last month.

They were adamant that the cops were lying, saying the police had killed their own and wanted to blame them. They also demanded an apology from the police.

But head of the Major Investigation Task Force, Assistant Commissioner Les Green, said none would be forthcoming.

“If there was criminal activity taking place in the community, then no apology would be on the cards,” Green said.

Haughton was shot in the back below the tail of his bullet-proof vest and died six hours after, while undergoing treatment at the Kingston Public Hospital.

Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas later ordered a top-level investigation into the matter after the residents pointed out that Haughton, who was leading the patrol, could only have been shot in the back by one of his colleagues.