By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
SURVEILLANCE footage showed that 18-year-old Kwondrick Lowe threw objects seconds before an officer killed him near Kemp Road in 2023.
The Coroner’s Court inquest into the killing continued yesterday.
Police claimed they engaged Lowe around 12.30am on January 21, 2023, pursuing him into Hillbrook Close, where he was shot and killed.
Inspector Kevin Deveaux of the police digital forensic unit testified that he retrieved two sets of security footage from Mil’s Chinese Restaurant and Bar showing what happened on the night of the shooting.
Footage shown from a camera at the rear western side of the building showed Lowe in a blue hoodie running behind two parked vans around 12.36am. Three officers appear in the frame shortly after searching for the deceased as he continued to duck behind the van’s hood.
Lowe retrieves an object from his waistband and throws it before police Constable 4041 Anderson shoots him. PC Anderson’s actions are the subject of this inquest.
When questioned by K Melvin Munroe, the attorney for the officer, Inspector Deveaux said there was about two seconds between when Lowe threw an object and was shot.
According to the footage, additional officers arrived at the scene around 12.40am.
Footage from a camera at the front western side of the building showed the first of three officers using flashlights to search for the object thrown by the suspect in a nearby yard.
Detective Sergeant Danielle Cooper, the investigator that night, testified that he spoke to the officers involved in the shooting at the scene.
With the aid of photographs taken by Detective Sergeant Austin Bowles, Detective Cooper told the jury that she found the deceased’s body lying face up between the two vans near a pool of blood. She also said there was bullet damage to the wall of the restaurant where Lowe was shot.
The deceased’s mother left the court in tears when photos of her son’s corpse were displayed.
Sergeant Cooper said a black Baretta APX 9mm firearm reportedly belonging to the deceased was found in a nearby yard 47ft from his body.
Detective Constable Leroy Strachan of CSI said five 5.56 cartridge casings were recovered near the deceased’s body. He said he collected the deceased’s alleged firearm and eight unfired 9mm rounds. He also indicated that the weapon and magazine were swabbed for fingerprint analysis.
However, when asked by a juror if there was evidence that the handgun was fired in the vicinity of Lowe’s body, DC Strachan confirmed that there was none.
Assistant Superintendent Jamal Edgecombe of the police firearm section read Inspector Greenslade’s report, which said PC Anderson was qualified to use the black 5.56 Colt M4 Carbine Rifle he had on the night of the incident.
ASP Mario Durrell collected this weapon at the scene along with 23 unfired rounds of ammunition.
ASP Edgecombe told Mr Munroe that the rifle was a shoulder-fired weapon.
He explained that to protect people, officers are not trained to wait for an armed suspect to fire before engaging.
He said officers are trained to respond in seconds in these situations because failure can result in the loss of life.
When questioned by Caniska Taylor, the deceased’s cousin, ASP Edgecombe said officers would not shoot if a suspect is surrendering with both hands up. He added that officers would use proportional force to subdue a suspect.
ASP Edgecombe told Ms Taylor that officers are not trained to shoot suspects on their hands or feet but to fire until they feel the threat is subdued.
Angelo Whitfield marshalled the evidence.
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