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The tale of two police brothers
– One jailed for using his gun, other killed for not
The question is still being asked: what was going through the mind of Police Constable Antonio Dawson when he lowered his firearm and tried to apprehend an armed suspect? That action caused him to be fatally stabbed.
Maybe the answer could be found in what transpired two years ago with his brother Constable Ocquana Dawson, whose circumstances ended up quite differently when he too confronted a criminal suspect in a place called Globe Yard, Georgetown.
Unlike his brother, who has now become the latest cop killed in the line of duty, Constable Ocquana Dawson was found guilty of three charges after he discharged rounds at a man he was pursuing on February 28, 2013.
He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
The conviction has since been appealed but the incident left an indelible impression in the minds of the entire Dawson family that almost certainly influenced the late Constable Antonio Dawson’s actions on Friday last.
The late Constable was among four siblings who are all members of the Guyana Police Force, and his mother Yvonne was determined that none of the others suffered the same fate that befell her eldest son, Ocquana.
“I always warned him…Just lately I was warning him. I tell him if you see something east, turn and go west. I know the system how it goes,” said Yvonne Dawson.
Dead: Antonio Dawson
Convicted: Ocquana Dawson
She did not hide the bitterness she still feels for the treatment meted out to her other son, Ocquana.
“You see the trouble I had with my (other) son? Now today his brother come and died trying to avoid that pitfall,” she added.
Antonio Dawson, who was stationed at Impact Base, Brickdam, went to the Gafoor’s Shopping Complex area in Houston, East Bank Demerara, where he encountered a suspect who was behaving in a threatening manner.
Although the ranks were armed, they showed tremendous restraint in the process of apprehending the suspect.
Kaieteur News understands that Constable Antonio Dawson bravely took on the task of arresting the suspect but he made a tragic mistake when he lowered his weapon.
It now seems clear that the late constable was reluctant to use his firearm, not wanting to end up like his older brother. And for that he paid the ultimate price.
Yvonne Dawson is questioning the role played by her son’s colleagues during Friday’s operation.
“I want to know what happened to the people who were there to back him up,” Yvonne Dawson said.
But according to eyewitnesses, the other ranks could have hardly done anything to save Dawson, because, “This thing happen so quickly. And besides, if they de shoot, they might’a de hit other people.”
“I heard that the ranks were debating who was to shoot; none of them wanted any trouble,” Mrs. Dawson told this newspaper.
“What can I do about this now? Nobody is forgetting the incident with his brother,” she added.
As for police ranks in general, the incident has added further controversy to the topic “To shoot or not to shoot.”
There is a usually a frown whenever the police fatally shoot someone and the subsequent explanation is that the ranks were attacked with a knife.
One Subordinate Officer told this newspaper that in the current climate, he always advises his ranks not to shoot if they are not being confronted, even if it means that a murder suspect would get away.
“Because is either you feel it by jail or by death.”
At present two ranks are staring at a possible murder charge after they shot and killed a mentally challenged man at Strathavon, Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara.
The ranks had come under attack when they initially went to arrest the man who was threatening residents of the community.
The ranks were forced to retreat and they returned to the station, uplifted weapons and went back to the scene where they confronted the suspect.
There are different versions of what transpired that led to the shooting of the mentally ill man, with family members claiming that he was unarmed while the police are maintaining that he again tried to attack them with his cutlass.
Yesterday, a relative of one of the ranks chimed in on the issue.
“What would have happened if he had managed to kill one of the ranks? Now, because they shot and killed him, the policemen are staring prison in the face,” the relative said.
He however expressed the hope that the police will address this delicate problem so that the situation will not get out of hand and result in trigger happy police ranks.
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