The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

POLICE shot and killed two armed robbery suspects after the pair, with a third suspect, led officers on a high-speed chase through the Claridge Road area early yesterday morning.

According to police, shortly after 5am a motorist travelling on East Street near Robinson Road was approached by three men. Two of the men had handguns and the third had a knife. The thugs robbed the motorist of his vehicle, police said.

Police immediately sent out an all-points-bulletin (APB) for the vehicle. A short while later, officers on patrol spotted the car in the Robinson Road area. A chase followed that ended on Balfour Avenue and Claridge Road, where the vehicle crashed into a utility pole, police said.

The three men got out of the vehicle and opened fire on police, the RBPF reported.

Police returned fire, fatally shooting two of the suspects. The other suspect was rushed to hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Police recovered the stolen vehicle, two handguns and a knife from the scene.

Officers suspect the men were responsible for a number of armed robberies in recent weeks, confirming that one of the suspects is being electronically monitored and is on bail for a serious offence.

Sunday’s fatal shootings marked the fourth and fifth police related shooting deaths for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

In May, 20-year-old Deangelo Bodie Wallace of Spence Street was killed following a shootout with officers in the Fort Fincastle and Mason’s Addition area.

In early July, an off duty police officer fatally shot a man after he allegedly pointed an object at the officer while at a nightclub in the Faith Avenue area.

Meanwhile, last Friday police shot and killed Nixon Vixamar one day before his 31st birthday while in the process of arresting him at his Gamble Heights home.

Assistant Police Commissioner Stephen Dean said that officers visited a home at Sunrise Road off Baillou Hill Road South shortly after 6am Friday to find a man who was wanted for several complaints of assault.

“When police attempted to arrest the suspect,” ACP Dean said, “he began to resist violently and was subsequently shot. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.”

ACP Dean told The Tribune yesterday that RBPF officials were not concerned by the number of police related shooting deaths, insisting that officers are trained to protect themselves while in the line of duty.

All four deaths have been forwarded to Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez for further investigation.