By Robert A. Emmanuel
As loved ones continue to mourn the death of 45-year-old Mannie James, it was revealed yesterday that the father-of-two was unarmed when police chased him down on foot.
The full details involving the incident remain unclear. On Thursday, Operations Officer at the Criminal Investigations Department, Superintendent Lisbon Michael, gave the public an update as to what investigators knew so far.
On July 31 at around 8.30pm, a joint military-police operation was being conducted on Lauchland Benjamin Drive when James, who was driving a white Suzuki Vitara, and two other passengers sped off in the opposite direction, leading to a chase through St John’s city, ending in Gray’s Farm.
According to police reports, gunfire ensued during the chase with law enforcement officials firing back as the other passengers jumped out of the vehicle—the first individual in the Ottos area and the other in Gray’s Hill.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday, Superintendent Michael revealed that James who had two gunshot wounds – one in his back and one in his abdomen – was found to have no weapon on his person nor in the vehicle he was driving.
“No weapon was found on him, no weapons were found in the vehicle; bear in mind that I mentioned earlier that two persons have escaped from the vehicle while it was travelling,” Superintendent Michael said.
The police officer revealed that the other two passengers remain on the run with their identities unknown.
Meanwhile, the officers at the heart of the incident have been taken off frontline duties and are now receiving counselling, as per police protocol, according to the Superintendent.
Prior to his passing, James, from Bendals, sold jet ski tours to tourists on Jolly Beach—his means of providing for his partner and two young children.
According to initial investigations by the police, the vehicle was unlicensed and the Superintendent suggested that this could have been a motive for the occupants fleeing the scene.
“There are a number of things: the first thing that captured our attention was that the vehicle had no front registration plate and, upon examining the vehicle, the last time it was insured and licensed was 8 December 2019. So, I don’t know if part of that reason why they were trying to evade the police,” he said.
He added that another reason could have been the weaponry that the passengers allegedly possessed, which was apparently used to shoot at the police vehicle.
The superintendent suggested that while there was no active warrant or criminal record against James, he was known to the police—a suggestion previously refuted by acquaintances who described him as a “peaceful” and “lovely guy”.
Video footage circulated online suggested that James, clearly bleeding, was put into the back of the police vehicle where he was transported to the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre.
Superintendent Michael said he believed that an ambulance had been summoned to the scene, but the priority of preserving James’ life prompted a separate course of action.
“Even though a person was shot during the course of any operation, the police main focus is to ensure that the person’s life is preserved and take him to the nearest hospital as soon as practicable and I believe that the police, perhaps, have done the right thing in those circumstances,” the Superintendent said.
Meanwhile, investigations continue into the procedures and actions of the law enforcement officers as the Homicide Unit and Serious Crimes Unit conduct their own separate investigations into the matter.
Questions remain whether the police should have incapacitated James by aiming for his leg instead, or whether James was the individual who originally shot at the police officers.
“Every incident that we come across, we normally review our mode of operations, and this is something that we have to seriously look at, bearing in mind that we have had [previous] incidents where two police officers were shot to death,” he added.