Cayman Officers Will Not Be Prosecuted
Cayman’s director of public prosecutions has ruled that the police officers involved in a fatal shooting will not be charged following a report from the Bermuda Police Service according to a report from the Cayman News Service.
Officers from the Bermuda Police Service traveled to Cayman Islands earlier this year to assist, with the Cayman police previously saying that “in order to ensure transparency and independence,” they asked the Bermuda Police Service to provide officers to lead the investigation.
The story said “The police officers who shot and killed a suspect during an operation in George Town in January have been cleared and will not face any criminal charges following the conclusion of an external investigation.
“Norvel Barrett [34], who was in Cayman illegally, was gunned down by armed officers in the early hours of 6 January at a house in Windsor Park following reports he was armed with a weapon. The police had arrived at the location with a search warrant suspecting he had guns at the property.
“At the time he was killed, he was suspected of having been in Cayman illegally for several months, and just two weeks before he was shot, police had issued an alert to the public that he was wanted and was considered “armed and dangerous”.
“When officers tracked him to the house in Windsor Park, where the woman charged yesterday is said to reside, he reportedly came out with a weapon. It is not clear if he fired on the officers as the police have not revealed any details of this external investigation into the incident. They have, however, confirmed that a loaded gun was found at the scene.
“The director of public prosecutions has ruled that no criminal prosecution will be pursued in the case against the officers who fired on Barrett, based on the report from the Bermuda Police Service, whose investigators conducted the inquiry into the events after a request by Police Commissioner Derek Byrne.”
