A week ago, we told you about the arraignment and remand of 28 year-old Phillip Moss Samuels, the man who was shot by police on March 12.
He was arrested and charged with keeping an unlicensed firearm, and keeping unlicensed ammunition. He was also charged with handling stolen goods, since the weapon was reported stolen by Carl Butler. He was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate, Ann Marie Smith, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. Due to the nature of the offences, he was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until May 29.
He's in jail right now, but his mother says that he's being wrongfully accused, and the officer who shot him, used excessive force for no reason. She came to speak with us today about his son's version of the incident:
Cherry Mae Moss
"He got shot on the 12th March on the Boulevard. When the first police trooper came, they pick him up and he told the officer that a guy was chasing with a gun, so he ran and he saw the mobile coming and he jumped into the mobile. When he jumped into the mobile, the next set of police told him that he better run home. Then they shot my son for no reason. I don't know why he shot him."
Daniel Ortiz
"Police are giving us a different story. They are saying he had a gun on him and he was charged with a firearm offence because of his gun and apparently, he was the one who supposedly shot at someone and pretended lie he was the victim."
Cherry Mae Moss
"The next thing is that he didn't have anything on him, because everybody says that he didn't have any gun on him."
Daniel Ortiz
"What type of individual is your son, because the portrayal that he currently has is that he is an accused gunman."
Cherry Mae Moss
"Well, I don't know him as a gunman, because I was at home in my bed, so I can't say that."
The police version of this incident was that on March 12, at around 9:30 p.m., Samuels allegedly shot at someone. Police were called in to respond to the incident, and they found Samuels, and they say that he was the gunman who fired the shots. In an attempt to subdue him, police shot him in the foot.
His mother says that she will make a report at internal affairs, to challenge the official police version. Police have also said that they will conduct their own internal investigation to verify that the use of force was justifiable.
Cherry Mae Moss is asking the public to assist her with medical bills for her son's gunshot injury. Anyone who wants to help her can reach her at phone number 632-4758. She may soon have her own medical bills as we understand she had to be picked up off Albert Street in an ambulance this afternoon.
Email
Print