A police sergeant told the High Court today that accused Tevin Ramon Skeete put him in “some serious fear” as he gave evidence on the second day of trail in the No. 3 Supreme Court.
Skeete, of Crab Hill, St Lucy is facing nine jurors for unlawfully and maliciously engaging in conduct when he allegedly shot at officer Ewin Norville on January 14, 2011, placing him in danger of death or serious bodily harm. He is also accused of using a firearm on that same date.
Taking the stand today Norville under questioning by Senior Crown Counsel Olivia Davis revealed he was at Half Moon Fort around midnight dressed in plain clothes and standing at the old fish market. In his estimation there were some 175 persons in the area that night.
He said he was not on duty at the time. Persons were patronising St Elmo’s Sports Bar also known as MoonTown or Kellman’s Place when he heard a commotion coming from the entrance/exit of the bar.
He told the jury presided over by Justice Carlisle Greaves he had an unobstructed view of the area and observed another officer telling three men to desist from fighting as they were “scuffling”.
Two other men, he said, were also involved in “this ruckus” which became “a big fight”.
“At this time I saw the accused reach into the front of his pants and took up a gun from down in his groin area, a big gun, and held it in the air and jumping and getting on bad. He held the gun in the air pointing it towards the sea, towards the fish market and in the direction of where I was standing . . . and discharge a shot.
“I heard a loud explosion and I also heard something hit the top of the fish market. He kept getting on and cursing and getting on aggressive. This caused persons to scatter as they run and scamper for safety,” Norville recalled.
He disclosed that there was also bottle throwing.
“I heard the accused say ‘I gine kill somebody down here tonight r*******. You think I easy, I gine kill one of these Checker Hall men’.”
During that time he called operations control and reported the matter and then walked towards an officer from the marine unit who was also at the location and had a conversation with him. That officer, he said, was armed with a glock pistol and ammunition.
“I asked him to hand it over to me as the senior person there,” Sergeant Norville said adding that it was his intention to “deal with the accused” and make the area safe for the other persons there and have the accused arrested.
But according to him the accused and men ran off. Norville said he and another officer pursued the accused and his friends . During a point in the chase he said, the accused “turned around and shoot at me”.
“The instant reaction, I had to duck and then I had to use controlling fire which is to fire a number of shots at him,” said Norville who explained that the men again ran off before getting into a car and fleeing.
Under cross examination by Skeete’s lead attorney Arthur Holder, the officer admitted that he saw two other men with firearms. He said he did not give that evidence today although he had done so in the magistrates’ court.
However he was admant : “I saw him Tevin Skeete discharge a firearm . . . and when he ran down the road he shoot at me with the firearm.”
From the gun he was holding he discharged “about 12 [rounds]. I can’t remmebr the exact number but somehwere up there.”
The case continues on Wednesday January 22.
