Relatives of 37-year-old Ramon Roger Mathlin, the mentally ill man killed by police on Monday, say they want justice as the police acted aggressively. Speaking with the T&T Guardian, yesterday, Mathlin’s mother and brother admitted he was mentally unstable but never violent. His brother Isiah Watson said he was there when his brother was shot twice by the lawmen after he threw a stone at Cpl Seulal, bursting his head.
According to police, around 8.15 am members of the Arima Crime Patrol Unit responded to a report that a man armed with a cutlass at Heights of Aripo was threatening pedestrians. When the officers went to the scene they found Mathlin brandishing the weapon in a threatening manner.
The police first attempted to coax him into going for counselling before wrestling the cutlass out of his hand. Mathlin then reportedly picked up a stone and bashed Cpl Seulal in the head before he was shot by another officer. He was taken to the Arima Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Watson, however, is disputing the police version. According to him his brother had the cutlass digging yam when the officers came to the Heights of Aripo home. He said he told the officers not to be hostile towards Mathlin as that would aggravate him. A warning he said they ignored. Watson said his brother was shot twice by the police, the first time Mathlin hid behind him.
Again Watson said he tried to reason with the police before his brother ran inside his home and collapsed. He said while there his brother was shot a second time. “The officers did not take heed. It had an officer with his hand on his gun at all times and I was telling him don’t come so aggressive. I want justice for my brother because they could have dealt with the situation better,” Watson said.
Also speaking with the T&T Guardian was Mathlin’s mother Margaret Ramsawsak. Ramsawsak said she found the actions of the police “disgusting”. She said when the officers arrived they had no one with them trained to handle mentally ill people and that could have avoided a fatal outcome. Senior police officers in the Northern Division where the shooting took place promised to investigate the shooting and the claims made by Watson.
