The final witness to take the stand on Tuesday, Officer Sandy Mackey told the court that once in the Yamacraw Road area, he proceeded in the direction that he saw a person running into the bushes.
At the time, Officer Mackey was reportedly armed with a service revolver.
He testified that he participated in a one-day firearms training course when he first joined the prison 11 years ago.
When asked, he admitted that Tuesday, January 17 was the first time he had “handled” a firearm since completing the course.
“As I got into the bushes, I saw persons running and told them to stop,” he testified.
“One of them turned around and headed towards my direction. I shouted and then fired a warning shot in the area the men were running. As the first person got closer to me with his hands in the air, I fired a shot in the direction of the person coming towards me-He gradually bent to his knees.
“The other two stopped and came towards me and I told them to get down-They got down on the side of the first inmate-After this, the rest of the officers came in the bush where I was.”
According to Officer Mackey, the two gunshots were the only ones he heard.
The witness, who was assigned to the southern group of the Maximum Security wing, said he could not identify the inmate he had shot.
Prison escapees, Neil Brown, Forrester Bowe, Corey Hepburn and Barry Parcoi, occupied cells in the C block of the western wing of Maximum Security.
Last week, pathologist Govinda Raju told the court that autopsy results show that Brown suffered a gunshot wound to the upper inner left knee, but that the main cause of death was the result of a gunshot injury to the chest.
When asked why he did not discharge his weapon, as the other two inmates approached him, Corporal Mackey told Coroner Linda Virgill “they did not come in the manner, which he (the shot inmate) did”.
Officer Neko Sargent was also reportedly one of the first prison officers on the scene during the recapture.
He testified that he was it was around 4am that he first heard the prison’s sirens go off followed by what sounded like gunshots, another siren and a series of another round of shots.
Officer Sargent, who resides in the prison’s bachelor’s quarters, said when he exited his room, he saw several officers running towards the perimeter fence.
He said he asked Principal Officer Gregory Rolle what had happened and after being briefed, was told to give chase.
He told the jury that at that point, he requested PO Rolle’s revolver, the same weapon he later handed over to Officer Mackey to use.
“I started to run towards my vehicle. I saw Corporal Major exiting the single’s quarters, threw him the car keys, went into the passenger seat and as Major started the car, Mackey came into the vehicle and Officer Basden,” Officer Sargent said.
“As we proceeded to Yamacraw Road, I spotted a male in dark clothing and another male in the bushes-Mackey asked for the revolver. I opened up the revolver and turned it over. There were six rounds-Mackey jumped up-I heard him shout, “stop” and then I heard two shots.”
The court also heard that while running in the direction of the shots, Officer Sargent reportedly stumbled and fell over someone. He later identified the individual as Parcoi.
Officer Sargent testified that soon after he learnt that his colleague Corporal Dion Bowles had been killed during the daring escape.
He said after crying, he went to the prison bus.
The witness was reportedly one of at least three other officers on the bus during its return to Fox Hill prison.
“I saw Brown, Bowe and Parcoi being placed on the bus. They were seated-The bus stopped in front of the Maximum Security area. I took Parcoi off the bus into the area. I next took Bowe,” Officer Sargent told the court.
“When I returned with Corporal Colebrooke I touched Brown, but he did not respond. I told Dr. Donaldson that an inmate was on the bus but not responding.”
Brown, he said, was slouched over the chair at the back of the bus.
When pressed on the issue, the witness further testified that he did not notice anything wrong with the inmate when he took Parcoi and Bowe off the vehicle. He also pointed out that he heard no gunshots while on the bus.
But jurors were concerned about earlier testimony that the rear glass of the bus was no longer in place once it returned to Her Majesty’s Prison later that morning.
According to the witness, there was a scuffle while officers were trying to subdue Parcoi in the Yamacraw Road area.
He said the officer had intended to hit Parcoi (with a weapon), but instead missed and hit the back glass of the bus.
Also taking the witness box Tuesday was Officer Shallman Lafleur who told the court that once learning of the escape, he and Corporal D. Johnson attempted to hop the fence in pursuit of the prisoners, but that he soon fell.
The witness said it was at this point that he heard gunshots coming from the prison compound. Officer Lafleur said once he got up again, he limped to Yamacraw Road.
He said both he and Corporal Johnson were dressed in blue coveralls at the time with jackets, none of them prison issued.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
