By Sheena Brooks

Three young men have been arrested and charged for a shooting incident that occurred last week. On May 21st, Kevin “Judge” Francis, 21, of Parson’s Village turned himself in to the Police in St. Pauls where he was arrested and charged along with Tejay “T-bone” Isaac 19, of Conaree and Jarvis “Swordie” Sovrattie 24, of Mansion. The trio was charged with wounding with intent to kill Vincent “Horse Head” Warner.

According to police reports, the arrest of the three men followed investigations into an attack on Warner in Parson’s Village on May 18, where he sustained a non-fatal gunshot injury to his leg. The men are expected to appear in court shortly.

Meanwhile it has been almost two weeks since 38-year-old Icilma “Micey” Francis was gunned down in Molineux, May 17, by an unknown assailant and still her killer remains at large.

A second murderer walks the streets of St. Kitts after shooting to death 26-year-old Orngel Estridge on May 17 at her temporary abode in Shadwell Gardens.

To date, police have not zeroed in on any of the triggermen as two families mourn the incalculable loss of their children, sisters, mother, aunts, and loved ones.

According to police reports, several suspects were taken into custody “on suspicion” for both murders but as at May 26, no charges had been laid.

The public remains vocal about its lack of confidence that the police would ever find the shooters or that if apprehended, the murderers would be prosecuted and convicted.

“Every time someone get shot up, the police quick to haul in the usual suspects, even when they have credible alibis. It’s just for show for us to believe they doing their work. It doesn’t matter if they carry on 20 man on the bench, ’cause when you look, the 20 man march right back out the next day,” Jamesy*, a shopkeeper, said.

Patricia*, a hotel worker, told The Observer that the police could only do so much when members of the public offered no assistance.

“Half the time you read a newspaper you see something about witnesses tell them all what they see. Yet you could never hear that the police have witnesses. People need to step up because it’s in their best interest. These are crucial times. The gunman dem shooting they targets whenever, wherever, and these same people who refuse to tell police what they know might get caught in the gunfire. I understand that the police don’t know what confidential mean, but call from a payphone, write them a letter; just tip them off so they at least have an idea of where to look and who to look for.”

A former police prosecutor told The Observer that police could not just arrest someone based on hearsay, but information received from sources must be collated and analyzed to determine what a course of action.

“There is what is referred to as information and then there is intelligence. After collating and analyzing information, it is turned into intelligence or what is considered sufficient enough to discover evidence. Of course the Police would prefer to have witnesses brave enough to come forward but they also would not turn away anonymous information.”

The former Police prosecutor also explained that Police had to carefully process information received based on its source before jumping into action as criminals had “propaganda machines” in place to mislead law enforcement.

*Names changed to protect identities