7 News Belize

GSU Commander Says Shots Were Fired, “Warning Shots”
posted (September 27, 2017)
And half hour later, the Ministry of Home Affairs convened a press conference at the new Belize City headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event was chaired by Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington who brought the commander of the GSU and the acting commissioner to take all questions.

And there are some very tough ones out there - mainly did the GSU fire shots that could have wounded Kelvin Usher and led to his death? Today, the Commander said that when the team decide don the Lucky Strike Plantation, only four warning shots were fired:

Supt. Andres Makin- GSU Commander
"Upon embarking on the plantation warning shots were fired but they were fired in the air. At no time were they directed at the person that had fled the scene. Based on what I've been briefed, we've not gathered anything to say that the guy was shot at or injured in any way because the Scenes of Crime has processed the scene and nothing has yielded any traces of blood to indicate that yes the individual had been actually injured."

Jules Vasquez - Reporter
"You say that Scenes of Crime has not found any signs of anything, how about the expended shells? You said warning shots were fired. How many expended shells were recovered and where are these?"

Supt. Andres Makin
"Well, when it comes to the expended shells, I was told that yesterday when the Scenes of Crimes went on the scene apparently they did not recover any of the expended shells, but as far as I was briefed from my people, it was around 3 or 4 shots that were fired in the air."

Jules Vasquez
"The report is that the GSU took their expended shells after firing whichever shots they fired. Has any of your officers indicated that indeed this is what they did?"

Supt. Andres Makin
"No, I haven't gotten that information."

Jules Vasquez
"Is it unusually that expended shells would not be found if it was fired in a controlled area or a known area?"

Supt. Andres Makin
"I should think so, yes."

Jules Vasquez
"Ok, so that would be an inconsistency."

Supt. Andres Makin
"Well, what I'm saying is that I haven't been told or there is nothing to indicate that the shells were removed and I haven't gotten any information with regards to that."

Jules Vasquez
"But they are there and, in the normal course, would be there."

Supt. Andres Makin
"Definitely, they should have been there."

Jules Vasquez
"So then, might there be a suggestion then that the officers who responded might not be disclosing the full ambit or the full scope of their operation?"

Supt. Andres Makin
"I wouldn't say so, I've been briefed that they fired three to four rounds and there nothing to show that they went back and they took anything off the scene."

Jules Vasquez
"Whenever rounds are fired they must be accounted for. Is that a practice in this case? Is there any reconciliation of: ok, uno gone out with 100 live rounds and uno came back with 90 plus."

Supt. Andres Makin
"Yes, upon their return my deputy was tasked to look into the matter and to check the rounds that had been issued to the different officers."

Jules Vasquez
"And everything…what was the..?"

Supt. Andres Makin
"Around four rounds were fired."

Jules Vasquez
"There must be a precise number."

Supt. Andres Makin
"Three from one of the individuals and one from the other individual."

Jules Vasquez
"The working theory is that the GSU, which does not have a stellar reputation in the public mind, the working theory is that this young man was killed by the GSU and they buried him out there. The Old Northern Highway has many stories to tell. Me and you are in this long enough to know about Kirk "Psycho" Thompson, Rock Stone Pond. This is a place where people have disappeared in the past."

Supt. Andres Makin
"Jules, there is no way that that could have occurred. The male individual that was apprehended, it has now been revealed that that is the father and at no time did the persons on the ground separated from the father of that kid that day. Therefore, there was no way that that child could have been killed by the GSU because then his father would have been a witness if that had occurred."

Makin says there were 5 officers with different caliber weapons.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize