The authorities in St. Lucia are investigating the circumstances under which a mentally ill man was shot dead by the police in Vieux Fort on June 16.
The police reported that officers attached to the Vieux Fort Police Station responded to a report of a suspected mentally challenged male causing a disturbance at La Ressource. Upon arriving on the scene, officers reportedly encountered a man “behaving erratically.”
Stones
The police statement continues that, on approaching the suspect, the officers observed him pick up two stones, one in each hand, and threatened them.
The officers reportedly responded by calling on him to put down the offensive objects; he refused and continued advancing towards them. The police again called upon him to stop but still he did not heed the warnings of the officers.
At that point, the officers discharged two non-lethal rounds of ammunition in his direction in an effort to subdue him. It was only when this failed that the police discharged a weapon containing regular ammunition, which hit him in the process.
Family pleaded
However, the family of Gabriel told the St. Lucia Star that they pleaded with the police not to shoot their son. They said it had not been the first time that the police had been called to assist in taking him in for treatment, but that he was never violent. They are also questioning why the police shot Gabriel in the chest and not possibly his leg to subdue him.
This latest incident has once again raised calls about police handling of mental patients. It is the second such incident in just over ten months, the newspaper reports.
SOURCE: St. Lucia Star
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Police shooting in St. Lucia being investigated
