Police Investigating Use of Rubber Pellets in Officer-involved Shooting

Last weekend there was also a shooting on Newtown Barracks involving a police officer who fired rubber pellets that injured several persons.  The officer was responding to an altercation at a popular nightclub on the entertainment strip.  To break up the fight that was taking place, the policeman fired a warning shot onto the ground and when the rubber pellets ricocheted, they injured several persons who were in the immediate vicinity.  ComPol Chester Williams explained the use of non-lethal rounds.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“As I said to OCED, while I do understand that the police’s action in discharging the weapon or the firearm in that particular area could be seen as one that was necessary but not necessary, let me put it that way.  You might say well how could it be necessary but still not necessary, but again, due to what was taking place in terms of the aggression, the fighting between the different groups, and we do know that when we have rival groups going at each other, the potential for either one to take out weapons and use is very high.  So the police took out his shotgun that had rubber bullets and discharged a warning shot.  My issue with it is that he fired the warning shot in the ground.  You don’t fire warning shots in the ground because the potential of ricocheting is extremely high.  He could have fired it in the air or whatever, but I can’t kill the policeman because at the end of the day he saw an issue that could have escalated to the stage where persons got severely injured or killed and he, being the person in that position, applies his best judgment and did what he did, a reprimand from me would be good enough for him, but I don’t want to kill him for what he did, no.”