Barouallie man who was shot by police now at hospital under guard

Days after terrorizing the Barrouallie community and fleeing police, Bernard “Bibsie” Derrick is now under police watch at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) nursing gunshot wounds to his shoulder and arm.{{more}}

On Wednesday, August 11, at about 11: 50 a.m, he was shot by police after they responded to a call for help from the Barrouallie Community Centre.

According to a police report, Derrick had gone to the Barrouallie Community Centre, armed with a knife and stick, and had threatened to “kill all the children who were participating in a summer programme there.”

Participants locked themselves inside before telephoning the police, the report said.

The police, in their attempt to subdue Derrick, also shot three nearby females.

12-year-old Britney Quashie was left with a bullet in her left foot and 18-year-old Kaywana Reece with a wound to her left leg. Joselle Gaymes, 23 was shot in the shoulder at a nearby bus shed. They were taken to the Barrouallie Health Centre for treatment before being transported to the MCMH.

Four police officers had approached Derrick, who reportedly began waving his arms threateningly. A police report said when Derrick was ordered to drop the weapons, he instead attacked the police who shot him in his arm. He made a daring escape and was pursued by the police.

Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT from his bed at the Male Surgical Ward of the MCMH, Derrick vividly recalled the incident. “Me been upstairs the community centre and then I just go outside ‘pon de porch ah relax, when me see four police officers ah come,” Derrick recalled.

Derrick, 33, said when the officers called out to him, he was about to move when the knife fell from his pocket. “When the knife drop, I go pick it up and dem start to pelt shot(s) after me,” stated the heavily bandaged man.

After sustaining the gunshot wounds, Derrick said he fled to the mountains to seek refuge. He returned later that evening and was taken to the hospital by his parents.

Admitting that he had been admitted to the Mental Health Centre in 1999, Derrick said he picks breadfruit and cuts grass for a living, but remains adamant that “I don’t hurt people.”

“How me go do that? Me haffi look out fo the youth them and them haffi know the biblical and spiritual teachings,” said Derrick.

Up to press time, no charges had been filed against Derrick.