0
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – St. Lucia police have gone on high alert after a message posted on social media threatened harm to law enforcement officers following the death of a 22-year-old man during an exchange of gunfire with police
“We are not taking this lightly,” Acting Police Commission, Milton Desir, told a news conference, adding that “to threaten police officers I consider it very serious and I would say it is a security concern for St. Lucia”.
The threat to the police was posted on social media after the body Benjamin Cyril, 22, was discovered following the exchange of gun fire with police on Tuesday.
The police said that the investigation into the death is still ongoing and police spokeswoman Anne Joseph told reporters it has not yet determined as yet whether it was a gunshot fired from a police officer’s weapon that killed Cyril.
“A post mortem has to be conducted. There are also certain tests that have to be done so that we can confirm that. We are not in a position to do so at this moment,” Joseph explained.
Joseph said that on Tuesday, police conducted an operation in Bexon just on the outskirts of the capital in a bid to detain several people involved in various offences including robberies.
She told reporters that when approached by officers the suspects discharged a firearm in the direction of the cops, resulting in an exchange of gunfire.
According to the message posted on social media with a photo of the deceased, “bad boys” were being urged to take on the police.
“Your death will not pass just so,” the post read in part.
