A Stevedore is Gunned Down Upon Release from Police Custody
Daniel Lopez
A stevedore was ruthlessly cut down by a hail of bullets on Sunday night, shortly after being released from a holding cell at the Raccoon Street Police Station. It is unclear whether the motive behind the deadly assault that claimed the life of Daniel Lopez is the result of an old beef. What we do know is that he was picked up following a shooting incident a few days earlier that left Andrew Staine hospitalized at the K.H.M.H. While Lopez was released without being charged, his loved ones are tonight wondering whether he was left to the mercy of the world upon his release from detention. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Anisha Lopez
Anisha Lopez, Mother of Deceased
“Eena my mind, I cohn home and I seh well, I wahn stay up ‘til nine o’clock and I gwein go pick up my son. But I di check di time, fi sih minutes to eight cohn fi staat walk, but I seh well, I wahn put this lee gial to sleep then ah wahn walk out. By di time me seh me wahn put my baby to sleep da because me di yer lotta gunshot down di street and me noh know da my son di police deh done let go.”
According to Anisha Lopez, her son was taken to the Raccoon Street Police Headquarters where he was kept for forty-eight hours before being let go without any charges brought against him. The young stevedore was picked up from his home and detained on Friday night in connection with a shooting incident that happened sometime before. He was blindsided by a pair of gunmen who made sure that he would not make it home alive.
Anisha Lopez
“Dehn cohn fi my son Friday night, ten o’clock, and dehn seh that how dehn di ker my son pan wahn P.I. or how dehn usually call it when shooting happen. So dehn ker my son. When I gaan fi check my son two different times, di last time when I check my son da Sunday eleven o’clock, gaan ker ih food and wata cause only that dehn accept , wata and dehn food. When I ker that, di man seh di same hours weh yoh son come een yoh son wahn come out.”
Lopez, however, was discharged before the appointed time and proceeded home on foot. Someone must have either seen him leave the police station or had been tipped off of his release. He was met with extreme violence of action upon turning into Faber’s Road Extension. Lopez’s assailants fired on him in concert.
A.S.P Fitzroy Yearwood
A.S.P Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director, B.P.D
“If the police knew that he would have been harmed upon being released, I’m certain that the officers would have tried everything in their power to keep him safe. It’s very sad that the family feels this way.”
It’s an afterthought, one that is of little consolation to Lopez’s grieving family.
Anisha Lopez
“If I mi know dehn mi wahn let go my son early, I mi wahn done deh out deh di wait pan my son already pan Boulevard or at least gaan pick up ahn, like weh I tell di police dehn cause I noh play. Me da wahn young ma but I noh play with my son dehn.”
Assistant Superintendent Fitzroy Yearwood told reporters this morning that several persons are in police custody pending further investigation into the homicide.
Fitzroy Yearwood
“We know that the investigators have several persons detained that they are questioning and hopefully we can bring some form of closure to the family. I must say that it’s very unfortunate that this took place and we are very saddened by it.”
Police are now trying to determine whether the deadly attack on Lopez was reprisal for another shooting that occurred a few days earlier, the very incident that led to his detention on Friday night.
Fitzroy Yearwood
“We know that Andrew Staine was, sometime around 7:30 on the seventh [of January], police received information that Mr. Staine was traveling in his Toyota Camry somewhere in the vicinity of North Creek when upon passing a certain area a barrage of bullets was fired at him. He drove to the KHMH where he was being treated for a gunshot injury. Police detained several persons in connection with that shooting incident and they are claiming that Mr. Lopez was also detained in connection with that incident.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
