Brother of deceased police anxious for completion of Coroner’s Inquest

Kishroy Chambers, the brother of deceased Sergeant of Police, Philbert Chambers, says it is important that the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of his brother is completed, not only for family members’ sake, but for the sake of other police officers and Vincentians.

Sergeant Chambers, 30, was killed in the line of duty on April 26, 2020, while trying to serve a warrant to search for a firearm at Gleason Lewis’ Campen Park home. Lewis, 36, died in the same incident, while constable 700 Verrol Sam was shot, but survived.

It is alleged that Sergeant Chambers and Constable Sam were shot by Lewis, and Lewis was then killed by other police officers on the scene.

“I think that it’s important…the inquiry is completed so we get a reflection of what happened…and not only for us (family), but for the people of St Vincent,” Kishroy told SEARCHLIGHT during an interview on Monday, January 20, 2025.

He said what is revealed in the Coroner’s Inquest can be used to make sure that incidents of this nature are not repeated and that will be a gain for the men and women who serve St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) as police officers.

Chambers, a social worker who works with children in the United Kingdom (UK), said the Coroner’s Inquest should be aimed at transparency and those involved should work to ensure that his brother, somebody who served and gave his life, receives justice through truth.

He said family members think that the process is taking too long and the process took a negative toll on his mother, Coleen Elma Bobb-also Sergeant Chambers’ mother- who died on July 11, 2023 without getting any answers in relation to the shooting.

A Coroner’s Inquest was ordered after the shooting, and in 2022, then District One Coroner and Magistrate Rickie Burnett, began the process along with a five-member jury but had to stop in March, 2023 after one of the jurors fell ill. Magistrate Burnett explained back then that based on the statute, the inquest could not continue without the full panel of jurors.

The procedure was eventually ordered restarted after the magistrate went on leave and later took up another posting which made him ineligible to continue the process he had started.

The Coroner’s Inquest is being done this time around by recently appointed magistrate, Kawana Jacobs. It was restarted in 2024. The last session was held last week Thursday, January 16, and the next session is scheduled for March 20, 2025.

The deceased policeman’s brother said while he understands why the process had to be restarted, five years is a long time to wait for an outcome in the matter for somebody who gave their life for their country.

“I think it has been a long- sort of overdue. My mom has since passed…she died of a broken heart in the sense that she never got to see the completion or an outcome that was, in a sense, dear to her,” Chambers said, while noting that the family is a military family who understands what it means to serve, but nevertheless, they want to see an end to the matter.

He said he is hoping that what is learnt is used as a teaching moment and forces the local constabulary to provide proper training on how operations like the one in which his brother was killed should be carried out.

Chambers, a former police officer of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF), and also a former soldier in the British Armed Forces, said he is hoping that the evidence is closely examined.

He said when the matter resumes on March 20, 2025, he would have already have left the state.

“…they said that it should be finishing soon, but it has been put off again…but the family will be here and will continue to keep an eye…,” Chambers stressed.

He said he thinks it is important that the government and everybody else knows, that, “we just don’t turn our backs”.

Sergeant Chambers, at the time of his death was an 11-year member of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines (RSVGPF), having enlisted on December 6, 2008. He was attached to the Questelles Police Station at the time of his death.