Jehlano Romney has broken his silence on the recent death of PC Clarence Gilkes, saying he is not in any State protection and is now fearful for his life, as he believes he is now a target of police officers.
The 29-year-old Rich Plain, Diego Martin resident was the former suspect in the death of PC Gilkes.
Gilkes was killed while on patrol in Rich Plain, Diego Martin, in April. It was first reported that Romney was the main suspect in the fatal shooting. However, he was cleared after the autopsy report revealed that PC Gilkes was shot to the back of the head.
In an exclusive interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Romney spoke about the ordeal and what transpired in his life in just over a week.
He said, “Just like my children, I am traumatised and to add to that, there are police officers parking outside my home and they are in marked and unmarked vehicles and to me, it feels like this ordeal is still ongoing, the only thing is that my name is cleared for the incident.”
He added: “They never offered any witness protection. I tried to file my complaint against the police for attempted murder and this report was not taken. They told me that they are only investigating the homicide.”
He claims that the officers who were there when the incident happened are still on duty and it is clear that the intention was “not to arrest me but to execute me.”
He denied having any guns when the officers approached him. He said he was on his way to buy bread for his two children —a one-year-old and three-year-old— when he was approached by the officers, who allegedly opened fire. He said when Gilkes was hit, that was his cue to escape.
“I bawled out to the officers, I was shouting telling them I had no gun and to stop shoot but they never stopped,” he claimed, adding, “It is God alone know how I escaped without being killed.”
He described being on the run for six days as a costly feat, “as you have to pay top dollar for a person to assist you in your escape.”
He noted, “I hid in car trunks to move around and to escape being captured. Also, with your image plastered all over the news it was hard and all I had in my mind is that I had to live so that the truth can come out of this ordeal and especially my children, they were on my mind.”
He said when the news broke that he was no longer a suspect, he cried.
“I shed tears of joy, especially when I heard the commissioner said that I am no longer a suspect. All I wanted to do was to go home badly but then again, my reality has not changed as police officers still look at me as the suspect.
“I was told that despite I am not a suspect, I was the cause of the police officer’s death and I can tell the Police Service operates as a gang, so I have my fears. To me, nothing is over in this incident as yet, things are still happening, I am still frightened. I am in constant contact with the Police Complaints Authority and they say they are trying to arrange a safe house for me or even seek asylum in a next country, because I know the capabilities of the police.”
He also gave advice to the youths, saying: “In Trinidad and Tobago, it is not a matter of the wrong crowd and it does not matter of trying to do the right thing, because you might be trying to do the right thing and these things could happen. But to the youths, I will say one thing, no matter what you do just keep praying and for me, seeing first-hand what occurred with me and seeing similar scenarios in the past that did not turn out to be positive, I think God was instrumental for me to tell the story today.”
