http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Jca-govt-wants-answers-278090691.htmlJ’ca govt wants answersFilmmaker shot dead
The Jamaica government yesterday confirmed it is seeking information from the authorities in Trinidad and Tobago regarding the death of a Jamaican filmmaker late last month.
Tremin Thomas, 25, was one of three people shot and killed in Laventille on September 25. Two other men were shot and are now hospitalised.
Among those killed was Dillon Skeete whom the media described as a gang leader and the police acknowledged had been a prime suspect in the recent murder of a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force.
The Trinidad and Tobago police have denied any involvement in the murders. Police public relations officer, Insp Wayne Mystar, confirmed that the Besson Street Police Station had come under fire hours after the three men were killed.
The Jamaica Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was in contact with authorities in T&T and that it has been advised an investigation into Thomas’s death is being conducted.
The ministry said it is also in contact with Thomas’s family. Earlier media reports in Jamaica quoted his mother as saying she had no information regarding his death and was relying on newss reports.
Meanwhile, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association (TTPSWA) has criticised the actions of Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley during his visit to the crime scene earlier this week.
PSWA general secretary Insp Michael Seales said Rowley had received spent shells from residents during the visit.
“The association is not in agreement with it, in fact we are concerned about it. What happened there was irresponsible on several grounds.
“There are pictures and videos of persons holding shell casings, including the Opposition Leader, I believe. But according to the law of this land, at the moment anyone holds those casings, they are in possession of ammunition and can be charged accordingly and brought to court,” he said on a radio programme.
“Furthermore, their handling of the shell casings was improper, as the casing themselves would have been contaminated in the process. DNA evidence will be lost or made exceedingly difficult to find.”
But Rowley dismissed the statement from Seales saying he had visited the area five days after the killings and the police were yet to secure the site.
Furthermore, he noted he had asked a police officer who had accompanied him to the site to collect the spent shells from the residents and at no stage he touched them.
—CMC