Linden killings…Cops say no ‘definite conclusion’ yet on ballistic tests

Aug 01, 2012 News

The Guyana Police Force is refuting a Kaieteur News article which stated that the shotgun cartridges with copper-coated pellets inflicted the injuries on the Linden protesters two Wednesdays ago.
Three persons died and several were injured when police reportedly opened fire on protestors in Linden who were agitating against a mandatory hike in electricity rates. The shooting has been a highly charged political one with Emancipation funerals planned today.
The article appeared in last Monday’s edition and quoted a police official as stating that the ballistics experts had reached this conclusion after viewing the ‘fragments’ that were extracted from the slain men.
But a statement yesterday from the Police Public Relations department stated that investigators are still to reach a definite conclusion on the caliber of the ammunition that killed the three men.
“The Guyana Police Force wishes to state that no definite conclusion has been arrived at as yet in relation to ballistics tests being conducted on the metal fragments extracted from the bodies of the three men and that the tests have not been completed,” the release stated.
“If indeed the information was provided by a “senior police official”, then that senior police official was incorrect.
“The Police Force is further stating its concern about the misleading information in the article, the heading of which gives the erroneous view that this was an official position of the Guyana Police Force, and also other misinformation about the Linden situation that are attributed to “police sources”.
Yesterday, a police official with whom Kaieteur News had spoken again stated that ballistics experts in the Force concluded that the ‘fragments’ extracted from the slain Lindeners were pellets from copper-coated shotgun cartridges.
The ‘fragments’ were viewed under a microscope, the source said, adding that they were similar to the copper-coated pellets that were extracted from some of the other wounded protesters.
Some officers within the Force are asking why the ranks at the protest were using these cartridges, which carry large pellets, rather than cartridges with much smaller pellets, which are used to disperse crowds.
The sources also suggested that the ranks should have aimed at the ground to disperse the unarmed protesters.
Kaieteur News was also told that the ballistics team is in possession of shotgun casings that were allegedly retrieved from the scene of the protest. By checking the firing pin and other makings on the casings against the shotguns used, investigators should be able to ascertain which rank (s) shot the protesters.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law Enforcement) Seelall Persaud has said that only four shotgun cartridges were missing from the ammunition that police ranks took to the scene. He said that the ranks who had shotguns have given statements to investigators.

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Linden killings…Cops say no ‘definite conclusion’ yet on ballistic tests

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