33-year-old mentally ill man killed in Barrackpore police encounter

Trinidad and Tobago: A 33-year-old mentally ill man who was threatening the public was shot and killed by police officers during an encounter in Barrackpore. The man was wielding a cutlass and throwing bricks at the time of the incident on Tuesday, 07 May, around 12:20 pm.

As per the reports, the incident of the police encounter which led to the death of a mentally unstable man took place on the day while a team of officers were conducting an inquiry in the locality of Barrackpore. The police officers working on some other case when they spotted the mentally ill suspect being violent at the number two scale on New Colonial Road.

The deceased man who is said to be mentally ill was identified by his documented name as Jeremy Ramberran. Jeremy Ramberran was the resident of the neighbourhood in Barrackpore, a town located in Trinidad on the southern part of the island. It is said that the man had a history of being violent like this many times.

While the police officers were on duty in the region, they noticed that the mentally ill person was throwing bricks at the motor vehicles that were passing along the route. It is also said that the ill suspect was also carrying a cutlass with which he was threatening people around. The officers after observing this illegal activity went ahead to take control of the situation by tackling the suspect.

It was recorded at time of nearly 12:20 am when the officers took charge and ordered the violent suspect to stop committing the offence. The police officers explored that the suspect was not in mentally stable condition, on which, they tried to talk and calm him down. However, nothing worked instead the unstable suspect raised the cutlass and launched towards the officers to attack them.

After observing that nothing was working and the situation was getting worse, one of the police officers armed himself with his legal service gun and pointed towards the ill man under the rules of gun law. As the suspect was about to attack the officers on duty, the police officers pulled the trigger in order to save the lives. The bullet shot by the officer hit the suspect and left him severely injured at the scene.

Straight after, the police officers took control of the weapon possessed by the ill suspect. The man was seen critically injured and bleeding from the wounds of gunshot after which the officers assisted him to the Princes Town Health Facility in their service vehicle. As they were on the way to provide medical help to the suspect, the man was not able to survive and lost his breath in the police vehicle.

Subsequently, the dead body of the mentally ill man was transferred for the autopsy proceeding while the investigation around the incident was launched by the police department. The father of the deceased in the Barrackpore police encounter was questioned about the condition of the suspect. The 73-year-old senior citizen named Ramesh Ramberran confirmed the unhealthy mental condition of the dead man.

It is mentioned by the father of the dead in his statement that he had a history of such offences. He was used to be violent on many occasions. The reason behind his bad mental condition is disclosed to be the death of his mother. The mother of the dead man died seventeen years ago due to cancer. His father tried to help him with psychiatric care, but nothing worked.