Senior Reporter
Relatives of 24-year-old Barion Patterson are demanding answers after he was killed in a police-involved shooting over the weekend.
According to police reports, Patterson, of St Joseph, and another suspect were shot by police during a confrontation around 2.55 am on Monday in Chaguaramas.
Police said acting Sgt Garcia and PCs Rogers and Narine responded to a report of suspects on the premises of the Military Museum. Upon arrival, the officers encountered three people, two males and one female, on the south-eastern side of the compound.
The TTPS said during the encounter, one of the males came through a gate and allegedly lunged at the officers armed with a knife. In response, one of the officers discharged his service firearm, striking the male suspects. It said both suspects were taken for medical treatment and Patterson later succumbed to his injuries at hospital. The second male suspect, aged 17, was treated at the St James Infirmary and transferred to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
It said the female, also 17, was detained in connection with the incident.
But Patterson’s relatives demanded answers about how he was killed.
A relative said Patterson, who worked as a straightener and painter, regularly went on nighttime swims with the teenager. They said the pair regularly visited their usual spot near the Chaguaramas Museum.
Patterson’s grieving relative said the family became concerned when the group did not return home as expected. It was only after making inquiries that they learned what happened.
The woman told Guardian Media that both Patterson and the teenager were dressed in swimwear when the shooting occurred.
“He is not somebody who usually goes and lime,” she said, adding that he was accustomed to “doing the usual night beach like they always do.”
Relatives said Patterson’s body had not been taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James as of yesterday, and they had not been allowed to see him since his death.
They also maintained Patterson was not known to police and had never previously been in trouble with the law.
