Soldiers mistook stick for gun in killing man, residents claim - Maxfield Avenue uses shooting death to press for better infrastructure
Published:Saturday | October 3, 2020 | 12:09 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Residents of the lower section of Maxfield Avenue in St Andrew are demanding a full investigation into the circumstances under which Errol Caven, also known as ‘Fisher’, was shot dead by soldiers on Thursday night.
They used debris to block sections of the roadway yesterday, claiming that Caven was killed because of the long-standing problem of unlit streets in the community.
According to them, 48-year-old Caven, who earned his living by selling fish, had just left Whitfield Avenue and was heading up Maxfield Avenue some time after 9 p.m. when he was spotted by soldiers on patrol.
Carrying two plastic bottles and a length of stick, which he usually brandishes like a rifle, residents theorise that because the street was unlit, the soldiers mistook the intoxicated Caven for a gunman and shot him dead.
Well-known and loved
His brother Maurice and other residents said Caven was well-known and loved throughout Maxfield Avenue, and was a peaceful man.
Without giving details, the police’s Corporate Communications Unit said Caven was shot during a confrontation with a member of the Jamaica Defence Force.
It said the matter has been reported to the Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau as well as the Independent Commission of Investigations.
“We need resources like infrastructure ... . Water and light, and we need it as soon as possible. Through the lack of electricity, the soldier dem couldn’t mek out the man in a the darkness. Them think him have gun and fire pon him,” one man told The Gleaner.
He said that the problems faced by lack of infrastructure went beyond safety concerns.
“Them come in with the online classes. How the youth dem a go learn when there is no electricity and no Internet?” he asked.
The new academic year will officially get under way next Monday with classes to be held virtually in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We using the death of Fisher to bring attention to the fact that we need basic resources such as light and water, because, if the street did light up, the soldier dem would a get fi see seh him was harmless,” the resident added.