The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A POLICE officer choked up and cried in court as she recalled when a fellow officer killed 18-year-old Kwondrick Lowe near Kemp Road last year as the Coroner’s Court inquest into the killing continued yesterday. 

Constable Shaniqua Nicholas testified that she and another officer accompanied Constable Anderson, the officer who is the subject of the inquest, on the night he killed Lowe. 

 PC Nicholas said while on patrol, she and two other officers went to a bar on Kemp Road, known to be frequented by gang members. She said she noticed several gang leaders, including one known as “Ridge”. 

 She said PC Anderson told two officers he saw the deceased in a blue hoodie running away from the rear of the building towards Wulff Road.

 After pursuing and losing sight of Lowe, the officers searched for him near Mil’s Chinese Restaurant and Bar, where PC Nicholas said he had noticed the deceased ducking behind two vans.

 PC Nicholas said she identified the deceased to the other officers and said, “Police, don’t move.” 

 PC Nicholas had to compose herself while recalling the moment PC Anderson approached the deceased between the gap of the vans. She alleged that she saw the teen reach into his waist and pull out a gun.

 She said she screamed, “Gun, Andy, gun, gun” before PC Anderson opened fire on Lowe within seconds from an arm’s length distance. She said PC Anderson fired five shots at the deceased and that Lowe fell to the floor in a pool of blood.

 PC Nicholas shakily told the court that she was scared for her life and that of the other officers. She said she also feared that she would leave her child an orphan as a single mother.

 She broke down in tears when surveillance footage of the incident was replayed in court.

 She said police officers are trained to eliminate threats when faced with an armed suspect and to aim for the head or body.

  PC Nicholas, when questioned by K Melvin Munroe, the attorney for the officer, claimed Lowe’s gun was thrown into a car lot next door by the time the shooting was over. Officers were shown in security footage looking for an item the deceased allegedly threw.

 During cross-examination, Keod Smith, the attorney for the deceased’s estate, said given the angle of the vans and how low the deceased was, she could not see him, especially his hands.

 The witness disagreed, saying she could see everything.

 Mr Smith told the woman she did not see a firearm in the deceased’s hands, a claim she also disagreed with. 

 When PC Nicholas was asked why she didn’t fire on the deceased, she said PC Anderson would have been caught in the crossfire. 

 Sergeant Patrice Rolle of criminal records testified that a search she conducted on February 10, 2023 showed the deceased was not licensed to have a firearm.

 Although Sergeant Rolle confirmed to Mr Munroe that the gun recovered at the scene had its serial number defaced, she could not say if it was a police firearm.

 Angelo Whitfield marshalled the evidence.