The wife of one of the four men killed by police in Chaguanas on Friday claims she has an audio recording of the police raid at the house which disputes the version that there was a shootout.
Candace Simmons told Guardian Media she had moments before left Richard Wilson’s home at Torrington Drive, Edinburgh when she got a call from him that police were banging on the door ordering him to open it.
“I was on the phone live with him and recording it. How could he have opened it when they were kicking down the door?” she asked.
An official police report stated, the four men were killed following a police involved shooting incident.
Police said around 3.15 am, a team of officers from the Inter-Agency Task Force, went to the home of a suspect at Torrington Drive to execute a warrant for arms and ammunition.
“Upon entering the house, the officers were greeted by gunfire. The officers returned fire, hitting all four male occupants of the house. The men were taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility where they succumbed to their injuries. Two pistols and a quantity of ammunition were subsequently recovered,” a statement from the Police Service stated.
The other dead men were later identified as Demell Howell, of Maloney, Venezuelan nationals Ronniel Lara and another identified only as “Freddie.” Wilson, also known as Richard “Bun” Granger, previously lived at Maloney Gardens.
Simmons said while Howell was in the house with Wilson when she left she did not see the two other men.
“If the police were kicking in the door how would Richard have been on the phone recording, more so if they said there was a shootout...we just found three, “ Simmons said.
She said there were just a few bullet holes on the walls in the room.
She claimed Wilson’s gold jewellery and a pair of new sneakers were missing.
She admitted Wilson was involved in questionable acts in the past and had been arrested for several offences and taken before the courts. However, she claimed he was never convicted of any crime.
Howell’s aunt,who wished not to be identified, said he was a joyful individual who loved to party a lot.
Yesterday a team of investigators from the Police Complaints Authority was dispatched to the scene by head David West to interview relatives.
The entire house was ransacked believed to be by the police officers.
“Everything he had here we shipped it down, even the foodstuff...for the past three years he lived here but police would always harass him for whatever reason but first time they came to the house,” Wilson’s grandmother said.
