By John Myers Jnr., Staff ReporterHUNDREDS OF irate taxi drivers and residents of Spanish Town, St. Catherine, took to the streets of the old capital yesterday in the vicinity of the Life of Jamaica Shopping Centre, to protest against yet another case of a controversial police shooting.
The action of the demonstrators disrupted commerce in the usually bustling business district, disrupted schools, backed up traffic for miles, and forced the state-run Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), to re-route its buses up to 4 p.m.
Reports are that the policeman, who is attached to the Special Anti-Crime Task Force (SACTF), shot the taxi driver in the vicinity of the municipal bus park when he, reportedly, refused to remove his car to allow the policeman easy passage.
TAKEN OFF FRONTLINE DUTIES
The identity of the policeman was not disclosed, but Clifford Blake, Superintendent in charge of the Spanish Town police division, said he had been taken off frontline duties. The Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Supt. Blake, who addressed the militant crowd in the town square, said the taxi driver was now a patient at the Spanish Town Hospital. He has been identified as 26-year-old Derrick Simpson, of Scarlett Road, Spanish Town, St. Catherine.
According to eyewitness accounts, Simpson was driving into the municipal bus park when the policeman, who was exiting the park, dressed in plainclothes, reportedly ordered him to remove his vehicle so he could leave.
'Rivoli', a man who claimed he saw the full sequence of events, told The Gleaner: "The driver seh mi nah reverse out pon de main road, a yuh fi reverse mek mi get fi drive in." He said the policeman alighted from his vehicle with gun in hand, went over and tried to remove the keys from the taxi.
At this stage, other taxi operators who were present, reportedly converged on the lawman, telling him he "could not shoot anybody." The lawman reportedly discharged his weapon at this stage, hitting Simpson in the region of the chest.
The angry protesters blocked the road with stones, old refrigerators and other debris, causing traffic heading towards Spanish Town to pile up as far away as Central Village.
