On her way to work, the girlfriend of William “Boneman” Rock, 41, came across a crime scene unknown to her that the victim was the man to whom she had just told goodbye.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday the woman said she did not want to be identified fearing that her boyfriend’s killers, police officers, will return and victimise her. She claimed that shortly after Rock left her in the bathroom, she heard gunshots and when she came out he was not at home.
She thought nothing of it as the Community Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep) worker would normally be out of the house by 5.30 am to begin his day.
She left home, headed to Port-of-Spain, and saw police and soldiers urging her to find an alternate route to work as a few feet from her door there was a crime scene.
She did and on nearing the capital a neighbour told her what happened. The 32-year-old said prior to being informed she tried texting and calling Rock but there was no response.
She added: “God is the boss. I hope them police that kill him could go home and see their family this evening and feel good. This person have five children and work Cepep to provide for them and now his children fatherless. So what I supposed to tell them? Tell me.
“We black people don’t get justice. Them in the police does get all the justice. Them can walk in the hood and kill a man and it have no justice out of that. So tell me” she said before crying.
Other female relatives of Rock, who spoke with the media at Calvary Hill where the shooting took place, said Rock was a quiet and hard working man. The women admitted that Rock had a criminal record for gun possession and marijuana but that was in the past.
“How you will cope when police kill your relative for nothing? Them have to remember they have family too and the world is a circle. When you hear police dead what you feeling sorry for, and they killing we relatives so when them die them die” one relative said.
According to police, around 5.40 am, members of the Inter-Agency Task Force were on patrol when they were fired upon by Rock. The officers returned fire hitting Rock in the head. He was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he died while being treated. Police said they recovered a .38 revolver with one round of ammunition.
Residents claimed Rock was not involved in criminal activity and police were accustomed to coming in the area and “advantaging people”. They all called for a thorough and transparent investigation into his death.