Mandela Avenue shooting …Cop submits firearm for ballistic tests

Jul 31, 2013 News

– bullet extracted from slain man to be examined

By Michael Jordan

The question of whether an off-duty cop or a minibus passenger shot Elvis Fernandes could be answered soon when police complete ballistic tests on the rank’s handgun and on a warhead that was retrieved from the victim’s body.
Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell confirmed yesterday that the Constable who discharged shots at the Mandela Avenue scene has lodged his firearm for testing. The weapon is said to be a 9mm Taurus handgun.

Lloyd Britton

However, Brumell said that the rank was not under close arrest and explained that investigators had received several different versions about the incident.
“We are still doing our investigation; the investigation should be completed shortly,” the Top Cop said.
A police spokesperson also told Kaieteur News that a warhead was extracted from Fernandes and has been handed over for ballistic tests. The official was unable to provide any information on the bullet’s calibre.
Neither the Commissioner nor the spokesperson could say whether a warhead had been extracted from wounded minibus passenger Lloyd Britton or if investigators had swabbed his hands for evidence of gunpowder residue.
Police had stated in a release that Britton shot Fernandes and was himself wounded by a police rank who intervened.
However, Britton denied having a firearm and suggested that the same policeman who wounded him, also accidentally shot Fernandes.
Fernandes was slain during a confrontation with minibus driver Adrian Brandt and passenger Lloyd Britton.
Brandt told Kaieteur News on Monday that the owner of a car had accused him (Brandt) of damaging his vehicle and that the man, who was with Fernandes and a policeman, had later attacked him. Britton, who had emerged from the bus, was shot in the stomach.
Brandt alleged that he had seen the policeman discharge his firearm and that the constable was the only person he saw shooting. However, he could not say whether the rank had shot Fernandes.
The minibus driver also stated that Britton had re-entered his bus after being wounded and had handed over a “shine object” to another passenger before being taken to the hospital. Brandt said he was unable to ascertain whether the ‘shine object’ was a firearm.
Brandt told Kaieteur News that he was driving along Mandela Avenue around 17:20 hrs on Friday when Fernandes, who was on a scooter, and the owner of a silver car, blocked his path. Brandt said that he knew both men, as well as Britton, who was in the front passenger seat of his bus. It was then that the man accused Brandt of damaging his vehicle.
He alleged that Lloyd Britton, who was in his front seat, intervened, and the men began to threaten Britton, while Fernandes called the passenger a ‘thief’.
But the minibus operator said that a police patrol came on the scene and ordered the men to disperse. They also suggested that the owner of the car could file a report about the alleged accident.
Brandt said that he then returned to the West Ruimveldt minibus park where he picked up passengers. However, he said that Britton remained in the minibus.
Brandt said that he was driving east along Mandela Avenue a few minutes later when the car intercepted him.
He alleged that a police rank emerged with a handgun, while the driver had a cutlass and Fernandes had an ice-pick.
The minibus operator claimed that while Fernandes ran towards the conductor side of the bus, the driver of the car began to attack him with the cutlass. He also recalled that his passenger, Lloyd Britton, had exited the bus when the men emerged from the car.
“The driver go to me and start fire chops, and I pull back and brace on a passenger, and (then) I hear shots.”
He said that he looked into his rearview mirror and saw the policeman shooting.
Brandt said that his passengers began to scream and urge him to drive away, but then Britton clambered back into the vehicle and said “I get knock.”
Brandt said that he dropped off the other passengers in Mandela Avenue and headed to the Ruimveldt Police Station before taking the wounded man to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Fernandes was pronounced dead on arrival at the same hospital.