Harp Place residence protest police shooting
Harpe Place residents are calling for justice after a 19-year-old man was allegedly shot by the police on Sunday morning. Shaquille Phillip remained warded in critical condition at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital up to late yesterday evening. He was shot in the shoulder, throat and back. Residents yesterday protested the shooting by burning tyres and debris at Observatory Street, Port-of-Spain. Police said they received complaints that a man who they claimed was Phillip was alleged to be shooting in the area.
However, in an interview yesterday at Harpe Place, Phillip’s family said he was innocent and did not carry a gun. They claimed Phillip had just left a party at Pier One and had pulled up in a car when he was accosted by police. Debra Payne, Phillip’s aunt, said he did not have a criminal record and they were seeking justice. “We don’t want to leave it like that and we are going to get a good lawyer. They are treating him like a criminal. If they caught him doing a crime I don’t mind but he didn’t do anything. I going down with my nephew. We aren’t taking that,” she said. “In the Harpe, if you not working, you thieving and if you not thieving you begging. You have to get a dollar in your pocket, you have to live. I bury my children and my nephew and the police have no heart, they feel because they in uniform they could do anything. “
Payne said four other relatives of hers had also been killed in the Harpe: Kevin Phillip, Kwame Julien, Kwasi Phillip and Dwayne Phillip. Evene Phillip, the victim’s cousin, said: “It is obvious if he had a gun the police would have caught him with it. They got the gun in the river, hours after. Look how far the river is.” Orania Mader, one of the residents, said she saw Phillip lying on the ground while the police stood around. “I saw the boy fighting for his life and the attitude of the police. All I studying was to help and I never saw him with no gun,” she said. Mader said she shouted and begged the police to take Phillip to hospital, she added.