Man fatally shot by ‘police’

RELATIVES of 21-year-old Kareem Chad Hernandez want answers after he was shot and killed during an alleged confrontation with a man claiming to be a police officer.

The incident took place shortly after 11 am on Sunday, a short distance away from the family’s Spring Drive Extension, Bagatelle, Diego Martin, home.

Relatives said Hernandez and another man were talking when a black SUV pulled up. Newsday understands Hernandez was asked by the driver to come into the vehicle to talk. Hernandez refused and was shot in the leg as he tried to walk away. He managed to run back to his home, but collapsed in the front yard. Relatives, including his grandmother Tracey Hernandez, who had just finished cooking, ran out to help him.

Relatives said they tried to take him to the hospital but the car they were travelling in was stopped by police who took the injured man to their vehicle and carried him to the St James District Medical Facility.

There are conflicting reports of how many times Hernandez was shot. Relative claim he was only bleeding from his leg when he fell in the yard, but found out he had two gunshot wounds to the check when they got to the hospital.

Hernandez was pronounced dead on arrival at the facility.

Newsday visisted the scene where residents and officers of the Western Division were locked in a tense stand-off at the corner of Sea Trace Road and Spring Drive Extension. Police also attempted to grab the camera of a reporter who was capturing footage of the incident. Hernandez’s grandmother told Newsday she was deeply pained by the shooting, and said the family lost their appetite after the incident.

“When he collapsed in the yard, he wasn’t bleeding from anywhere besides his leg. He was still conscious and talking with us. We were going to take him to the hospital in our vehicle but the police stopped us, searched our vehicle and took him (Hernandez) in their vehicle.

“It was only after we got to the hospital, we heard that he was shot in the chest. We don’t know where those bullet wounds came from.”

Speaking with Newsday, Hernandez’s friend with whom he was speaking at the time of the incident, said the man who approached them did not present official police identification, and they were unsure of his intentions. He pointed to last month’s shooting of David Charles and Kurt Smith by men posing as police officers in La Puerta, Diego Martin. Hernandez’s relatives said they intend to file an official complaint with the Police Complaints Authority, adding that they were awaiting the results of today’s autopsy to determine how many times he was shot. Hernandez worked as a checker for the Unemployment Relief Programme and was the father of two infant girls, aged two-years and two weeks.