Police officer Cpl Elkene Avis, who was injured in a shootout with a killer on Sunday evening, says if he was to redo the incident he would shoot to kill the double murderer rather than trying to incapacitate him.
Speaking from his bed at WestShore Medical Private Hospital yesterday, Avis said the man who killed DJ Jerome Vickles and Kevin Rama got away because he did not intend to kill him.
“If I had to do it over again I would have killed him. I wasn’t trying to kill him I was trying to take him down,” Avis, who did not want to be photographed, said.
“When I see he was running off I was thinking he get hit. I didn’t think I failed. He end up running off and when I look back at the video it look to me like he pick up but with adrenaline he continue to run. But them so have people to see about them so he wouldn’t go in any hospital. I just glad he didn’t fire again because it might have had more deaths.”
Rama, 31, was shot dead along with his cousin-in-law, Vickles, 27, along Watts Trace near the Kinshasa Restaurant and Bar.
A video showing the duo’s killing has been widely circulated on Facebook and Whatsapp. In the video, Rama is seen running in the same direction as Vickles’ killer before the gunman turns on him and shoots him.
A collapsed Rama is then shot again as Avis engages the killer. Avis is shot in the leg while the killer runs off.
Police reports are that the two men were involved in a scuffle where they tried to part Vickles’ brother and the killer from fighting outside the bar just before 7 pm on Sunday. Following the fight, the man pulled out a gun and shot Vickles before turning the gun on Rama. While attempting to flee the scene the killer was shot at and he returned fire, hitting Avis before escaping.
Yesterday, Avis, 47, recalled hearing the gunshots and immediately running towards the sound while others were scampering away. He said he was off duty liming with friends at the time but had his licensed gun and saw the killer shooting Rama.
“I didn’t know the DJ fella got shot when I heard the first shot. When I come out I saw the guy (killer) was shooting behind the next fella and automatically I start to fire at him,” Avis said.
As the video of the shooting circulated on social media, many criticised Avis, after learning he was a cop for what they deemed his failure to shoot the escaped killer.
Yesterday, however, Avis said he was not bothered by that as those who criticised him.
“Everyone entitled to their opinion because all who talking, if it was them they might not have done anything. If I had waited for backup he might have opened fire on everybody else and then people would have been ‘You know he is a police and he ain’t do nothing,’” he said.
Avis’ wife, who sat next to him as they watched their favourite team FC Barcelona play Manchester City in a Champions League match-up, said she was supportive of her husband.
Asked if she would deter him from returning to work, the woman, who did not want to be identified, said no. She added that it was his passion from forever to be a police officer and she was just thankful that he was alive. However, she admitted to being a bit concerned now that he had been shot.
“I was never worried about his life being in danger but now it different. I will support him when he ready to go back out to work. It is what he loves. I have his back,” she said, beaming with pride as she fed him a grape.
When the T&T Guardian asked Avis if he would now consider taking up a desk job away from the field of fire, he said: “Desk job! Nah, I don’t know about that. I rather be outside. All that is part of the work.”
Avis, who is attached to the Cumuto Police Station and has 20 years service, said the bullet entered his left leg just above the ankle on the left side, exiting on the right.
He added that he underwent surgery on Tuesday night and up to yesterday was unable to move his toes. Doctors, have, however, assured him this is temporary and with physic therapy and time he would be back to normal.
He said he was yet to speak with the relatives of Rama and Vickles and when that time came he was unsure of what he would say to them.
DJ’s mom: He did his best
While some have been criticising Cpl Elkene Avis for failing to shoot the killer of disc jockey Jerome Vickles and his cousin-in-law Kevin Rama, Vickles’ mother’ Isadora Vickles-Noriega is praising the police officer.
In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Vickles-Noreiga said: “I am not disappointed or anything. At least he tried. Sometimes in the situation, all kind of things happen and you could get frightened but to me hats off to him.”
Vickles-Noriega said she only learned of her son’s intention to propose to his girlfriend of eight years next month after his murder, as Vickles kept it from her knowing if he did she would have told her daughter-in-law Kimberly Belfon.
“He was the life of the yard and played with passion. I will miss his passion for music and love for family the most, as well as his willingness to be helpful to others the most,” she said.
Vickles, who was a DJ at 96.1FM, will be buried tomorrow and his cousin-in-law will be cremated next Tuesday.