Illegal gunmen must be sent a strong message, says former police inspector Lionel Ward.
He was commenting on the recent spike in violent crimes, including the robbery of a Rose Hill, St Peter catering business and shop, and the death of his neighbour and acting station sergeant Newton Lewis who was shot and killed during that incident on Saturday.
Lewis, a 46-year-old father of four, was off duty at the time and was reportedly following a church service online, when he was informed of the incident and he rushed to help. When Ward, who Lewis’ next door neighbour, was told about the matter, he also attempted to help.
During an interview with Nation News on Sunday, Ward recalled how the events unfolded.
“I was resting. He didn’t really call me, normally he would when it comes to things like this,” Ward said.
According to Ward, it was Lewis’ step daughter who told him there was an attempted robbery in progress and that Newton had gone.
“But she didn’t have to tell me to go because as long as he was there and I believe that he was in danger, I’m going.
“I went there and saw him, we spoke. He told me there were three people in the house but I told him I couldn’t see anyone. But then quick so, we heard explosions and I looked for cover because no cover was there,” Ward recalled.
After taking cover, the former inspector said when he got up, he noticed his friend had been shot, but there was nothing he could do to help him.
“In looking for cover, I turned and fell. I got up while the explosions were still going on and I ran to my mother’s gallery. While running I looked back and I saw him stumbling and falling.
“He fell to the ground and I saw his head and I know he was dead.”
“I don’t know if anything could have been done at that stage. We were approached from a blind side, we were expecting the persons would have exited from where we believed they entered, but they exited from another side of the house which was our blind side. So when we were running away, we ran into fire, it’s sad,” he added.
Ward said he believed there was still a high level of recidivism in Barbados and he urged his former colleagues to send a message.
“I believe society has lost its way and I definitely believe there are a lot of recidivists. A lot of people go into prison then come back out and do the same thing.
“I believe as a police officer, a message must be sent, that’s all I would say. These are vagabonds that are going about the place doing this. I won’t say what that message is, but one must be sent,” Ward said. (TG)
