The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

POLICE Commissioner Paul Rolle says officers are “actively” searching for several suspects some of whom are believed to have left town following the mass shooting on Jerome Avenue that left six men dead in April.

Another person of interest, he added, is believed to have died since the incident.

The police chief made the revelation during a virtual press conference yesterday when asked for an update on the investigation into the April 15 shooting.

He told reporters: “We have identified suspects in that particular incident, and I have a team of officers who are actively searching... I do not wish to as I said then to put that information in the public for reasons I have already explained.

“I do believe that (a) couple of those individuals have skipped town and at least one is already deceased but we will find them and they will have to come back home to nest and when they do, we will be there waiting.”

Renardo Bastian, also known as “Crack Teeth”, Travis Cooper, Maurice Pinder, Kendal Lord, Delano Smith, and Dequant Brown were shot at the intersection of Jerome Avenue and Chesapeake Road when four men opened fire on them, killing them and injuring a 19-year-old woman and a toddler.

 The April 15 killing is considered to be the deadliest shooting in recent times.

 The mass shooting occurred shortly after the men were released from police custody in connection with an investigation into firearm possession, prompting speculation from some about possible police involvement in the fatal shooting.

 However, Commissioner Rolle has previously stated “there is no information to suggest that the police were in any way involved in this shooting.”

 He has also said police suspect the incident to be gang-related.

 In June, then Assistant Commissioner of Police Solomon Cash told Eyewitness News that five people of interest had been identified to assist police with their investigation.

 However, it is not clear if those five individuals are the same people believed to have skipped town as noted by Commissioner Rolle yesterday.

 Anyone with information on the April 15 killing or any other crime is asked to call police at 502-9991/2 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477).