Police investigating officer’s shooting of wanted man

The Ministry of National Security is not only mourning the life of the fallen soldier, but its other arm, the police department is obligated to investigate one of its own following a shooting incident, also in Dangriga. A wanted man was shot while running from two police officers on Saturday morning. According to the cops attached to the Dangriga Formation, they were on mobile patrol in Lakeland area at ten a.m. when they received a tip leading to the location of Lawrence Bernardez, who was wanted for questioning. When they arrived at the location, they met another man on the verandah and while they restrained him, one of the policemen saw Bernardez exit the house. The cops say he was ordered to stop, but he ran and climbed over a zinc fence into an adjacent yard. Bernardez was pursued and he reportedly pulled out a black firearm and pointed it in the direction of the police officer, who then fired a shot from his service weapon. Once again, Bernardez ran and the cop was not sure if he had been hit. But about twenty minutes later, the Southern Regional Hospital contacted police to inform them about a patient with a gunshot wound to the upper left side of the chest. Bernardez has since been transferred to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in a critical, but stable condition. Both criminal and internal investigations have been launched into this shooting incident.