A Police Constable has been arrested and charged for the offences of Inflicting Bodily Injury with a weapon and Unlawful Discharge of a Firearm stemming from an incident that occurred on June 26, 2016 in Frigate Bay.
The incident was investigated by the Violent Crimes Unit and the Office of Professional Standards and was reviewed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution.
The charges were brought on Tuesday (February 21). The officer, Police Constable Delroy Stapleton was suspended from all duties with immediate effect pending the determination of the charges.
He appeared before the Basseterre Magistrate Court and was granted bail in the amount of $25,000 with two (2) sureties.
Commenting on the incident, Commissioner Queeley said, “we have systems and processes in place to deal with these types of incidents. During the investigation the necessary protocols were followed and a decision was arrived at.” He added, “these things take time, and we allowed the process to take its course.”
Timoy Henry, a mid-distance runner was shot in the neck while at a bar on the Strip. An off-duty police officer wass said to be responsible for the shooting at the Frigate Bay Strip which left the local athlete hospitalized. According to reports Henry was shot when the officer fired into a crowd where an altercation had broken out.
According to a police press release issued the Tuesday afternoon, “The Violent Crime Unit is currently investigating two shooting incidents involving our officers which occurred on Thursday June 23, in Basseterre and Monday June 27, at Frigate Bay respectively. With regard to the incident which took place on the Monday, this incident has been referred to the Office of Professional Standards”.
The release made no mention of Henry, nor did it say what action if any has been taken against the officer involved.
Mention was made however of two individuals being injured during that incident and being warded in stable condition at the JNF Hospital.