Mystery deepens in Linden shooting probe - Crime Chief says only four shotgun cartridges missing from ammo taken to Linden
by Michael Jordan
The mystery over who fired the fatal shots at the Linden protesters got even more puzzling yesterday with Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law Enforcement) Seelall Persaud stating that only four shotgun cartridges were missing from the ammunition that police ranks had at the scene.
“The ammunition (the ranks had) was checked immediately and four shotgun cartridges were unaccounted for,” the Crime Chief told Kaieteur News.
The ranks who used the shotguns have submitted reports to investigators, Persaud said. However, the Crime Chief said that all the other ammunition that the ranks had was intact.
As a result, the hands of the ranks who were at the protest were not swabbed for evidence of gunpowder residue.
“This (the swabbing of the hands) wasn’t necessary because all the ammunition (except for four shotgun shells) was accounted for,“ Persaud said.
But Trinidadian forensic pathologist Professor Hubert Daisley told reporters that bronze-tipped metal fragments, suspected to have come from a handgun, were extracted from the three slain Lindeners during a post mortem yesterday. This confirmed claims by eyewitnesses that police had not only used shotguns while firing at protesters.
A local forensic expert told Kaieteur News that the type of fragment could have come from a 9mm round, a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) or a 7.62x 38 round, used in the Ak-47 assault rifle.
Contrary to the Crime Chief’s view, the forensic expert said that the hands of all the ranks, including those who used shotguns, should have been swabbed for evidence of gunpowder residue.
“In any shooting incident you try to do that, because it’s important,” the source said.
“If you swab the hands, you would be able to pinpoint those who fired. In the case of a shotgun, it (the residue) would even go on the clothing because a shotgun cartridge has a bigger charge. Shotgun pellets could also be fatal if you fire directly. When you are doing crowd disposal, you are supposed to shoot down at the ground.”
The source also explained that this test has to be done immediately, since gunpowder residue can be easily removed from a suspect’s hands.
The expert also said that all the weapons that were used at the scene of the shooting should have been handed over to ballistics experts to establish whether they matched shells and warheads that were retrieved. This should have been done immediately, since the components of some weapons are unmarked and could be switched with other firearms.
Kaieteur News was also told that although crime scene ranks travelled to Linden, they were not instructed to search for any ballistic evidence. They were reportedly only instructed to collect evidence from fires that were set and to take photographs, something that the expert found to be unusual.
Crime Chief Persaud also said that aside from collecting debris from fires that were started at Linden and taking photographs, the Crime Scene investigators did not retrieve any ballistic evidence during their visit to the bauxite mining town.
He said that the only bullets and spent shells that he saw were those that were displayed in the newspapers, allegedly after being retrieved by civilians. He appealed to persons with information to come forward.
Persaud said that up to when he had been briefed, no bullets or pellets from the wounded had been handed over to investigators. He added that the wounded patients were questioned but they refused to provide written statements.
However, Kaieteur News understands that some pellets were extracted from the injured and have been handed over to the Crime Scene department.
