The official police report states that Machine Man was shot by officers when he pulled a gun on members of a police patrol that was travelling along Collie Smith Drive in Trench Town just after 9:00 in the morning. Two men who were travelling with him in a Toyota Corolla motor car were arrested, and a .45 semi-automatic pistol seized.

Residents are protesting however, stating that Machine Man was on his way home after reporting to the Denham Town Police Station (in fulfillment of the terms of his bail for a murder charge), but in the vicinity of the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex on Collie Smith Drive, he was stopped by the police. They claim the police then opened fire, killing him in cold blood.

In fact, the police yesterday praised their ‘Yuletide season anti-robbery strategy’ for last week’s fatal shooting of a man who had attempted to stab a police officer. The policeman had accosted him after he allegedly stole a woman’s cellular phone.

Deputy Superintendent McArthur Sutherland said the police would be employing new tactics to keep a lid on robberies which usually trend upward during the lead-up to the Christmas holidays. His Division, he said, has set up covert and overt operations, increased motorised patrols and was receiving assistance from the Island Special Constabulary Force and the Organised Crime Investigative Division, to beat back any attempt by thugs to run amok in the busy Half-Way-Tree area. Sutherland also promised that the police would be ever-present on the streets conducting increased vehicle searches throughout the division.

The Constabulary Communication Network reported that about 11:50 p.m. last night, members of a police party were on patrol along Church Street when two men were seen on a bicycle. They were signaled to stop and they complied. However, one of the men pulled a gun and fired at the police. The police returned fire and the men ran. The area was searched and Grant was found suffering from gunshot wounds.

He was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead. A .45 semi-automatic pistol was allegedly taken from him.

The police’s Bureau of Special Investigation has however been called in to probe the shooting. Contrary to the official police report on the matter, residents and eyewitnesses claim that he had both hands in the air while being approached by the police, and that he was killed in cold blood.