Nine witnesses come forward in Grants Pen police shooting
Nine witnesses have so far been interviewed by members of the police’s Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI), which is investigating the recent controversial shooting of 18-year-old Andre ‘Kunte’ Thomas in Grants Pen, Kingston.
Last night, Security Minister Derrick Smith said that Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Kent Pantry had given ‘certain instructions’ which were being followed by the police. He said he expected other witnesses to be interviewed.
Smith also confirmed that the police vehicle involved in the incident turned up at the office of the Commissioner of Police on Old Hope Road in Kingston days after the shooting and appeared to have been tampered with prior to being returned.
Smith was speaking to the Observer after a tour of the Grants Pen Police Station.
The police’s information arm, the Constabulary Communication Network, had reported that Thomas died Friday afternoon during a shoot-out between a police patrol and a group of men on Grants Pen Road. However, residents said the youth was killed after refusing to follow instructions from the police to go home.
