By LR LiburdThe St. Kitts-Nevis Observer
The Police Constable, Brian Pacquette, whose leg was amputated after being reportedly shot with his own service pistol in the line of duty, died this morning (Jul. 18) in Trinidad, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police Hilroy Brandy.
Initially, it was reported that at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 23, 2016, Pacquette and another Constable had responded to reports of a larceny in the Greenlands area and that during their investigation, they had stopped a person of interest in Prickly Pear Ally upon whom they conducted a search.
Reportedly, the search revealed that the man had a knife in his possession and a decision was made to take him into custody. In their attempt to arrest him, a struggle ensued and the man allegedly grabbed Pacquette’s service pistol and a round was discharged hitting him [Pacquette] in his right leg.
The other Constable however managed to subdue the man, whose name the police gave as Evron Williams.
He was taken to the Basseterre Police Station, where he was formally arrested and charged with attempting to make use of a firearm with intent to prevent lawful apprehension.
The Observer was reliably informed that the Constable had twice called for an ambulance to transport the injured Pacquette, whose leg was bleeding profusely, to the hospital, but it never turned up.
He was however taken to the Joseph N France General Hospital by a police patrol vehicle.
Following the incident, a police communiqué issued on Wednesday (Jun. 29) stated: ““With regards to the incident which took place on Thursday June 23rd in Basseterre, the matter has been referred to the Office of Professional Standards and the injured officer is presently receiving further medical treatment overseas. We want to reassure the public that we will follow the procedure to the highest standard and will keep them informed of any developments as they occur.”
That communiqué did not provide much details of the incident, but this media house learned that Pacquette was shot by his fellow officer and not by Williams whom the police had earlier charged with the offence.
Speaking with Pacquette’s uncle, Austin Harris, told The Observer that the injured Constable was at the JNF Hospital for approximately four days before winging out to the West Shore Medical Facility in Trinidad for advance medical treatment, where his left leg was subsequently amputated.
He said that in addition to losing his leg, his nephew’s liver was failing.
Harris also told this media house that Pacquette was flown out of St. Kitts via air ambulance on Monday (Jun. 27) and questioned the reason for the four-day delay.
“I am pissed,” he said. “My nephew got shot in the line of duty, why wasn’t he transported sooner?”
He further said that the Medical Chief-of-Staff, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, who was recently appointed Chief Medical Officer, had suggested that his nephew be flown out of the Federation within 24 to 48 hours after he was shot. But that did not happen until four days later, which caused the leg to rot and deadly toxins to attack both kidneys that causing them to fail.
“On Friday, we were told that the air ambulance was cancelled because there wasn’t any insurance. As a family we decided we would pay for it and hope we would be reimbursed, as described by Mr. Brandy, by the Police Association. My nephew had gotten worse and wasn’t stable enough to travel on Saturday,” he explained.
Harris also disclosed that Pacquette had received two rounds of dialysis while at the JNF Hospital and that when he was flown out to Trinidad his leg was already rotted.
The distraught uncle claimed that Dr. Wilkinson might have caused the “hold up” in getting his nephew off to Trinidad. However, when contacted, Commissioner of Police Queeley categorically stated that “Dr. Wilkinson did all that was humanly possible to assist us in flying out Constable Pacquette. He had made contact with the hospital in Trinidad and did everything to get him out of the Federation…but before flying out he had to be stabilised”.
Efforts to reach Commissioner Queeley this morning (Jul. 18) on his mobile phone for a comment on Constable Pacquette’s death and the outcome of investigations into the shooting incident were futile.
A call to reach him at his office at the Basseterre Headquarters was also futile as the female who responded claimed that he was unavailable.
On condition of anonymity, one concerned citizen is seeking answers to the following questions: “Who is the officer that allegedly shot Constable Pacquette and when will the Police High Command disclose his identity to the public? Would he be charged with murder or manslaughter?
This is the second incident in recent times where a police officer was involved in a shooting-death of an individual. The first one occurred on October 2015 when Philo Wallace, a promising 17-year-old cricketer of Hamilton Village in Nevis was shot and killed by
an off-duty policeman, which resulted in a public outcry for justice.
A Coroner’s Inquest was held and the five-member jury had returned a verdict that justified the off-duty police officer’s action in the teenager’s death.
And as recent as Monday (Jun. 27), another off-duty Constable has brought the Police Force into disrepute over the shooting of middle distance athlete Timoy Henry, who was injured in the neck while in the vicinity of Breeze Bar on the The Strip in Frigate Bay.
