PCA probes triple police killing in Morvant

Footage from a home security camera near where police killed three men in Morvant on Saturday seems to contradict the police account of what happened.

In the video, three SUVs with police officers drive past a Nissan Tiida car on Juman Drive. The driver of the gold Tiida hatchback pulls aside and the police vehicles stop behind the car.

One of the occupants of the car emerges from the back seat with his hands in the air and the police seem to be speaking to the driver of the car and the man who got out.​

Moments later, someone inside the car lowers the right back window and it appears an object is pointed at the officers.

The police react by shooting.​

What happens next in the video is puzzling. The officers run in varying directions, one of them retrieving items off the ground, and another drives the Tiida further back.​

Police had initially linked the three suspects to the murder of PC Allen Moseley. who was shot dead around 3.30 am on Saturday at Morvant Old Road. Moseley was attached to the Guard and Emergency Branch.

But Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith later said the incidents were not connected.​

Two of the dead men were identified as Jason Jacob, who emerged from the car, and Israel Clinton, the driver. Jacob was celebrating his birthday on Saturday.

The third man remains unidentified.​

According to police, around 2.15 pm officers of the Inter-Agency Task Force and the Guard and Emergency Branch were on patrol along Juman Drive, Second Caledonia when they stopped a Nissan Tiida with three occupants.

Police claimed one of the men came out and pulled out a firearm and all three were shot. The men were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Science Centre, in the back of the police SUV, and were all declared dead on arrival.

The Police Complaints Authority, an independent organisation which investigates allegations of misconduct involving police officers, issued a statement on Sunday saying it had started an investigation.​

Once its civilian investigators have done an independent investigation, they will report to the PCA. At that point, the authority “shall make an assessment and form an opinion as to whether there is sufficient evidence to support a recommendation for prosecution and/ or the institution of disciplinary proceedings," the statement said.​

The organisation said due process will be followed at all stages of the investigation.​

So the PCA will not express any view before any determination by a court, “as that may be tantamount to attempting to interfere with due process and the course of natural justice," the statement said.​

Any witnesses to or anywone with information on this incident is asked to contact the PCA at 627-4383 / 627-4386 or at info@pca.org.tt.

The PCA said all information provided will be treated as confidential.