Tears as shot policeman dies

Darryl Honore
Darryl Honore

THE police corporal whose single bullet to the abdomen of his former best friend and colleague, Sgt Darrel Honore, resulted in the latter’s death on Sunday night expressed concern yesterday over what he described as a fabrication of what really transpired last Wednesday night at Grand Bazaar.

Newsday asked the corporal yesterday how he felt about Honore’s death, but the corporal, whose voice appeared to be choked with emotion, did not answer. Instead he focused on what he claimed was the amount of false information being bandied about, and said he was aghast last Friday when a photograph of his wife appeared on social media with what he described as, false text messages in alleged exchanges between himself and another woman.

“It seems as though there are people out for mischief and they have been spreading a lot of false news, but the truth will come out.” Newsday again asked how he felt about his bullet causing the death of his former colleague. He replied, “The media now calling me? When the thing happened nobody called, and you now calling me. Have a good day.” He then hung up the phone. Honore died at 10.20 pm on Sunday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Hope five days after being shot six times by the corporal. His parents and other close relatives were called to the hospital on Sunday night, where doctors broke the news to them.

However yesterday colleagues of the corporal said he was in an emotional state on learning of Honore’s death and told them he was simply defending himself when he fired several shots.

A close friend of both officers said that on Saturday Inter Agency Task Force members visited the corporal’s home and invited him to Borough Day celebrations in Pt Fortin to take his mind off the incident but he declined, saying he was still in some pain and did not want to take part in any outdoor activities.

“He is really hurt and upset about the death of Sgt Honore. He never wanted this to happen, he feels this could have been dealt with in a different manner and he is extremely sorry that it reached to the point where a life was lost. If you know those two officers, they are committed, hard-working men always ready to lend assistance to their colleagues. They both worked at the Anti-Kidnapping Unit and when they were transferred they continued to assist the unit,” the friend said.

Yesterday, Honore’s colleagues at Couva Police Station were in tears on learning of his death. They said the last time he worked was last week Wednesday and he appeared to be in good spirits. Some officers said they were unable to work on learning of Honore’s death.

Secretary of the Police Social and Welfare Association ASP Anand Ramesar said the right thing to do was to offer a funeral with full military rites to Honore’s family. “This is a very sad and unfortunate conclusion for an officer who has served the TTPS tremendously and contributed to the development of many officers under his charge. The general feeling among his colleagues is that he was well-liked and will be sadly missed.”

Yesterday, the officer investigating the shootout went to the EWMSC to get Honore’s death certificate. The officer also applied for the medical records of the corporal, but these were not made available. Investigators said that with Honore’s death, the case may be closed without the corporal being charged.

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